


Always

by GretaSalz



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alien Biology, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Evil Genius Lex, F/F, First chapter information heavy, Future Fic, Oblivious Kara Danvers, Pining, Some angst, Time Travel, but also kind of slowburn, but happy ending, kind of canon but with major changes and loosly including Crisis, some hurt and comfort, starts as a one shot but becomes an adventure, there will be violence in later chapters I am going to warn you
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-24
Updated: 2020-11-12
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:15:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 17
Words: 52,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26635714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GretaSalz/pseuds/GretaSalz
Summary: This story begins 27 years in the future. Kara and Lena are happily married and have four children. We get a glimpse at  their current life.But then suddenly a younger version of Kara stands at the door and claims that there were events in the past that could have a major impact on this future.Lena has to go back in time to save them all, while Kara and the kids try to help.This is the story of a family who will protect their future. Including lots of family fluff and also romanceLoosly based on the TV-show (that I haven't seen besides the supercorp-scenes).
Relationships: Alex Danvers/Kelly Olsen, Alex Danvers/Maggie Sawyer, Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor
Comments: 85
Kudos: 278





	1. Home

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to write a short story about Supercorp with teenage kids. It totally got out of control.
> 
> Thanks for reading.

###  **At Luthor-Danver's mansion**

_In this story, this is the present, but from our present perspective, the story starts in the future - 27 years from now._   
  


_______________________________________________________________________________________________

For the first time in months, Kara felt exhausted.

It had been a busy couple of weeks. Whenever she'd managed to put out a fire, a new one had appeared elsewhere.

The constant heat of summer got on everyone's nerves. People were sluggish and cranky or nervous and loud.

As a Kryptonian, Kara did not feel the heat herself but was sensitive to the tense atmosphere around her.

Being editor-in-chief at CatCo under these conditions was extra stressful, but she had the knowledge and routine of over twenty years as a journalist, editor, and manager. She could have been CEO by now but had declined the offer more than once because she wasn´t interested in that job. One reason was that she wanted to have enough time to spend with her family.

That wasn't always easy, after all, she also was still working as supergirl. And the heat drove people crazy. There were generally fewer cases because of it, but the criminals who kept working behaved more irrationally, fighting was more likely to be fatal, and the number of hostage-taking cases tripled. However, she had support. Five superheroes now shared the work that she once had done pretty much on her own.

At least there were no major emergencies at home. Her wife's company was thriving and the children were doing well. Sometimes she couldn't get her head around the fact that her youngest had turned 15 last month. But well, that was life.

And life had the tendency to surprise her. Like when they had they found out that Lena was pregnant with their first child.

They had just celebrated their second anniversary as a couple and the first few months being wives. At that time, Lillian and Lex were on the run and their world was still very much upside down because of the aftermath of crisis. And although Lex had not been seen in over a year, the risk of him coming back hung like a sword of Damocles over their heads and thoughts.

A child was the last thing on their minds.

_ ************ _

_ Nobody knew that female Kryptonians could create life together without the help of the birth matrix or a man.  _

_ When Lena found out she was pregnant, she panicked. She had been sick for a few weeks and decided to do a blood test to see if she had a virus or if there was anything wrong with her.  _

_ Then the concept of asking a friend for help was still new to her. So she was alone when she got the results. She stared for 17 minutes at them, completely overwhelmed, til Kara finally came home. _

_ During that time the part of her that harbored her self-doubt and had yet to heal was afraid that Kara would believe she had been unfaithful to her.  _ _ The part of her who always expected the worst thought that something really bad had happened to her without her knowledge. _ _ The part that felt loved and protected by Kara had calmed her down.  _

_ And suddenly she was sure that they had somehow - magically - made the baby.  _

_ She remembered a night a few weeks ago that she and her wife had made love. _ _ They had celebrated being married for two wonderful months. _

_ Lena remembered the moment when Kara had spread her legs. When she closed her eyes, she could still feel Kara's heat on hers. And how close she had felt to her love. Even before the tests at the DEO confirmed their theory, Lena was certain that this was the night it had happened. _

_ Since the thought had settled that the baby was their child thoughts about being a bad mother had replaced her former anxieties. That when Kara had finally arrived at their apartment. _

_ From time to time during the day Kara concentrated on her wife's heartbeat. Sometimes just to center herself, sometimes to make sure that Lena was fine.  _ _ After all, this was still the time when she and Lena were regularly threatened with death. Worried about her wife's dangerously fast heartbeat, she had flown home as quickly as possible. _

_ Kara stepped into the bathroom and found her wife pale and shivering on the cold floor. A sheet of paper lying loosely in her hands.  _ _ Kara knelt next to her wife and took her hand, knowing that everything that had put Lena into this state of mind had to be serious.  _ _ More by accident, she caught a glimpse of the data on print. She expected the worst. As an incredibly intelligent alien, Kara knew some of the basics of human biology. _

_ "Are these your results?" Kara whispered and Lena nodded. Karas smiled broadly and asked, a little surprised but happy: "You're pregnant?" _

_ And Lena nodded again. Kara wanted to know how, but the condition of her wife made it very clear that Lena didn’t have an answer to this question. Instead of speaking it out loud, she hugged her wife tenderly until Lena’s heart finally stopped beating like crazy.  _

_ They sat together on the bathroom floor for a long time, just holding each other. _

_ Kara persuaded Lena to go to the DEO. To find out if it was really true, how it could have happened and to make sure that the pregnancy would not be dangerous for Lena.  _ _ At no point, Kara doubted that this was their child. When Lena asked her about it, Kara would say, that it was simply a feeling. An unexplainable inner certainty. _

_ When they arrived at the DEO Alex hadn't asked much. She had developed a very good feeling for the boundaries of her sister-in-law during the last years. _

_ They found out that Kara's alien biology, now that she was so close with a woman, had "made her juices fertile," as Alex had put it. _

_ Natural pregnancies had been very rare on Krypton and there wasn't much information about it in general. Homosexual couples were not unusual and to the advanced technology, every couple could create biological children by using the birthing matrix. Kelex told them also a  _ _ very old myth from the time before the matrix was invented, about two Kryptonian queens ruling their queendoms together and that this love was adorned with children. _

_ After doing more tests that didn't have alarming results but confirmed a stable early pregnancy, Kara flew Lena home. They promised Alex that they would return for regular check-ups. _

_ While Kara was making tea for her spouse, Lena stood on the balcony and looked out over the city. Her long hair floated in the wind, her face stoic. _

_ Kara approached her carefully and gave her the tea. Lena warmed her cold and pale fingers on the heated cup. _

_ Kara began to speak softly: “I know it's all very much and unexpected. I'm sorry for putting you in this position. I really didn't know it was possible. I should have ... I mean we could have used protection... I want you to know that I will accept and support every decision you make. It's your body, your choice. We _ _ haven't even talked about children. Not really. You know I am not opposed - in the future I mean. I mean I am not opposed yet too, but I when we talked about it. And I know you are not so sure about it. And that's why I want you not to think about me. Please take all the time in the world and decide what feels right for you. I'm not just saying this. I am serious. _ _ “ Kara was standing next to her wife, but instinctively hadn't touched her yet. She knew that Lena easily felt trapped. _

_ But Lena was the one who leaned against Kara's side and encouraged the blonde woman to put her arm around her waist. _

_ "I know that it must be like a dream come true for you if something of Krypton can live on." Kara wanted to protest, but Lena would not allow it, turned to the superhero, and put a finger to her mouth. _

_ "Sh, I know. And I won't do anything that I don't want to, well I would for you... but that’s not the point. The truth is - since we went to the DEO, I know that I want it, too. And that's what really terrifies me. The knowledge that I want to keep it.“  _ _ She turned her gaze back to the city. "Because how can I want that? I don't know anything about being a good mother. The child is already cursed by Luthor blood and will be constantly be threatened because they are born into our family. How can we be so selfish ... " _

_ "Lena, I carry the Luthor name with pride because nowadays it represents courage, _ _ compassion, and the will and ability to do good. Every child who has you for a mother will consider themselves lucky because you are generous and caring and strong and creative and just wonderful. You are the greatest person I know. And I mean that quite objectively.“ _

_ Lena had to smile at that. „Dork.“ _

_ “I am serious! And if you really want this... I am all in. 1000% in.  _ _ The timing is not the best - but hey, we are used to improvising.“ Kara smiled and then looked Lena directly in the eyes: „But I stick with what I said before and want you to really understand this: only if you want it. We can sleep on it for a few more nights. It might feel right at the moment, but maybe not tomorrow. And that's okay. Lena. You are the most important thing for me!“ _

_ Lena leaned back and Kara followed. They held hands and silently looked at the sky. _

_ After a few minutes, Lena said: “Thank you. For trying to make it easy for me. I think I needed to hear that. But darling, next to all the anxiety there is also this warm feeling inside my stomach. A feeling, a strong urge to protect our child." Lena trembled a bit when she said this thought out loud but kept on talking: "I want this. With you. But that won't stop me from panicking like all the time." _

_ "It´s my job to tell you that everything will be fine, especially if you're scared," Kara said with warmth in her voice, a tiny tear in her eyes, and kissed her wife's forehead. _

_ Lena slowly turned her head to give her wife a gentle kiss on the mouth. Kara kissed back and pretty soon the kisses became more passionate.  _ _ Lena tended to cope with overwhelming emotions with physical proximity. Nothing made her feel more carefree and secure than feeling the bare skin of her wife under or over her. Sometimes it was just easier to talk with the body.  _ _ And so they talked half the night. _

_ The real meaning of what they'd just decided upon wouldn't really grasp Kara until the next morning. When Kara woke up, the first thing she thought was: "We're going to have a baby!" and then: "A baby who might inherit my powers."  _ _ This time it was Kara who was freaking out. Because being supergirl was a privilege, but also a burden. Lena assured her that they would be in this together and that the baby would not be alone like Kara had been - because she had her Jeju who would teach her how to control her powers. _

_ ******** _

Kara opened the door to the house she shared with her family. Or at least with those of them who were not currently in boarding schools or universities.

She and Lena had come across the mansion out of sheer luck on one of their Sunday excursions. Lexi then had been two years old and they had just found out that Lena was expecting again.

It was an old building but in good condition. They had renovated and modernized it completely. Now it was a tasteful combination of old and fashionable. The interior reflected Kara's ability to create coziness and Lena's eye for structure in a perfect blend.

When Kara saw her son's sneakers, her youngest daughter's boots, and her wife's high heels, all neatly placed next to each other in the open shoe cabinet next to the closet, all stress evaporated. Kara put her coat and shoes in their places.

She listened to the heartbeat of her wife, who was sitting in the living room. Kara went to the left of the entrance hall, entered the spacious kitchen, and got something to eat from the huge refrigerator that had once supplied five permanently hungry (half) Kryptonians. It was an open kitchen that led up a step from the dark-tiled kitchen to the wooden floor of the living room. Everyone had fallen over it at some point.

When Kara looked at the woman on the couch, she thought that Lena must be the most beautiful being in the galaxy, as always. She came home to her wife for so many years, and still felt the way she made her feel being at home. Lena - now in her early fifties - still had the same graceful posture as when she was a twentysomething. Though now she seemed relaxed and happy. A few strands of silver had stolen into her full, soft, and shiny raven hair.

The birth of half-Kryptonian children had changed her body. She had developed a mild form of super strength during each pregnancy and lost it after she stopped breastfeeding. Even so, she would live longer than most people because some cell mutations were permanent - luckily only in a life-prolonging way. Her body had softened too. Kara loved every curve. All the little changes were great memories of the four miracles Lena had made for them with and in her body.

***********

_ None of the pregnancies had passed Lena without a trace. But the first one had been the most eventful, especially since there were a few surprises. _

_ During the first trimester, like so many women, she struggled with great nausea. The more spectacular surprises began in the second trimester onwards when the powers kicked in. Suddenly floating in the middle of a board meeting wasn't as fun as it sounds and difficult to explain. _

_ They found that her body had started to absorb yellow sunlight in a similar way to Karas. No freeze-breath or x-ray vision, but strength and floating - never as fast as a skyrocket like her wife- rather like a hot air balloon that glides through a mild summer breeze.  _ _ Towards the end of her pregnancy, she used this power quite often because it gave great relief to her bones and joints, which were aching from the new additional weight. _

_ The otherwise so controlled Luthor heiress also became a slave to her raging pregnancy hormones, which made her hungry _ , horny, affectionate,  _ and sometimes even overly sentimental. During the second trimester, Lena developed a hunger after Kara's body, which aroused them, but sometimes also scared them a little. _

_ Occasionally she also had to fight her anxiety. During those minutes, hours, or even days, she was certain that all of this was a mistake. Questions about what would happen if her family found out about the child or the real identity of the other parent had the worst impact on their mood. _

_ After discussing it with Kara, Alex, and Kelly, she decided to start therapy. And that helped a lot. That and tripling all of their security systems. _

_ When Lexi was born on a Wednesday afternoon, both parents were instantly in love with the little girl, who was a mixture of the two, but over the years would increasingly resemble Lena.  _ _ The eyes, however, were Kara's. _

**************

Lena was still wearing one of her pencil skirts, sitting on their comfortable turquoise couch, her feet tucked under her body. 

Kara wondered how Lena could sit like that. The first thing Kara did after getting home was to jump into her comfy clothes. Lena owned a wide range of soft sweaters, shirts and sweatpants herself. But where Kara couldn't wait to be dressed in soft cotton, Lena sometimes had to be reminded that she owned those clothes now. Especially when she was nervous or melancholy or both - like today.

Lena looked at a photo album that was openly lying on her knees. She had made several books for each of her children. Old school, real pictures, carefully written anecdotes about first words and funny little stories, dates and the names of the cities they visited, people they met. The brunette was completely absorbed in the images. A glass with a healthy amount of scotch in her left hand, she turned the pages with her right, a small smile on her face.

Kara knew her wife and was well aware of the fact that Lena had difficulty dealing with time. In this case, it was mainly about that their eldest daughter had just graduated from university. This also meant that Lexi wanted to leave them for six months to travel the world with her best friend. And after? She didn’t know yet but had voiced some ideas. None of them included staying with her family in National City. Tomorrow Lexi would receive her diploma. She was also doing the valedictorian speech.

Lena was proud of her daughter's accomplishments, but she also mourned the days when Lexi needed her mother's goodnight kiss before she could sleep.

Kara sat down next to her wife and tried to catch a glimpse of the pictures. The picture Lena currently was looking at showed a three-year-old Lexi sitting on a white couch holding her little sister Lisa. She looked at the pink bundle with curiosity and care.

*********

_ Lisa, their second daughter, had been extra from the moment she was born. Lena and Kara were at a fundraising event in which Lena was to receive an award for her exceptional achievements in the field of medicine when Lena's water broke almost four weeks early. Apparently, Lisa couldn't wait to begin her life outside of Lena's body and was born behind the scenes while Kandra Beckstein praised Lena's achievements.  _

_ Where her older sister Lennox (Lexi) was thorough, sensible and controlled in character, Lisbeth (Lisa) was a force of nature. _

_ She was born with black hair but was bald from month six to fifteen. With her first word, blond stubbles were appearing on her head. Since her third birthday, thick waves of golden hair surrounded a delicate face with piercing, green eyes that always seemed to be up to something. _

_ Lizzy, their youngest daughter, had been an accident. One they loved very much! But she hadn't planned to get pregnant again so soon, just a year after Lisa's birth. If Lexi looked similar to her birth mother, Lizzy was her mirror image. The only differences were her slightly lighter hair and the sunny smile she'd inherited from Kara. Although Lizzy and Lisa were only two years apart, she looked much younger than her older sister. _

_ Liam had been the second biggest surprise after the pregnancies in general. They hadn't expected a boy, being two women. After doing a lot of research, they found that some cells in female Kryptonians contained y chromosomes. The percentage of male "sperm" was so low that a boy should have been a statistical improbability. But here he was.  _ _ Relaxed, sunny, nerdy Liam. _

_ For all of them “El mahayar” wasn’t just a family slogan but a principle they took very seriously. _

_ ****************** _

While Kara and Lena had grown their family, a lot happened around them. Like they restored the earth system and now lived back on earth 38. But there was also Lena's constant work on reestablishing L-Corp. Though Kara didn't work as much as supergirl anymore, she still supported her sister‘s team. Just now a little more often behind the scenes.

For a while, they were also plagued by Lillian and Cadmus. Lillian left no stone unturned in getting to her daughter and her grandchildren. However, she did not succeed in a serious attack. Somehow she had given up about 15 years ago. There was even a resignation letter in which she stated very clearly that she no longer saw any point in fighting aliens and that she would now rather enjoy her life. Lena just shook her head. But they still felt a little more secure afterward.

And then - just two months after that letter - a laboratory exploded under the Luthor mansion. They found a lot of blood and also bits of skin. A DNA test confirmed that both were Lex’ who hadn’t been seen since they had restored Earth 38. After this accident he now was officially declared being dead - there had even been a funeral. But Lena and Kara had always waited for the other shoe to drop.

And then five years ago he suddenly stood in their living room. Just like that - out of the blue. Marked by a large red scar across his face. He had starred at them and mumbled incoherent words. And then he had intended to kill them in their house. With some kind of a bomb. It had been such a stupid move. How could he not know about the security cameras and devices that were installed in every room in their home? That was so unlike Lex. Perhaps all the years of hiding and the accident had ruined his once brilliant but always very disturbed mind.

They were so tired of being threatened and hunted by members of Lena's family. They decided to get rid of him once and for all. Lena had been with her when Kara literally threw him into space.

It had taken a while to digest this event - especially for Lena and for Lexi, who had been the only child at home when their uncle had visited. Of cause, she hadn't been there when Lex had the special supergirl treatment.

And after time had healed these wounds, Kara’s life was almost boring. Except for the occasional alien who meandered through their city. But nobody, neither human nor alien had tried to conquer earth. For the most part, they all lived peacefully next to each other. Kara's rare duties as a supergirl included mostly robberies and the occasional kitten who was too scared to climb down from the tree by herself.

That didn't mean Kara wasn't grateful that the time of constant threats against Lena, her family, and her own life had become a reminder of the past. In fact, it was something Kara appreciated very much.

Especially because everything could have gone so differently. Embracing the reality of a loving relationship with her former best friend who was once almost her worst enemy still had the potential to overwhelm her.

_ ************ _

_ When Lex had spilled the super-secret, Lena was hurt to the core. It had not been easy to rebuild the trust between them afterward. It had taken almost a year of desperation, heartache and anger before Lena finally found the strength to forgive Kara and, conversely, to ask forgiveness - for everything she had done to Kara in the months after the reveal. _

_ It had taken Lena weeks to gain enough courage to do the step towards her former best and ask for forgiveness - and maybe a hug. Lena really craved a hug back then. _

_ After that first conversation, they avoided talking about what had happened. During the first few months, they only met to discuss the best ways to bring down Lena's notorious brother. _

_ Weeks passed. They met one evening after Kara had just had a big argument with her sister Alex. Kara sat in her seat in the bar, her lips cramped, said little and looked unhappy. And when Lena, who was sitting on the other side of the table, instinctively took her hand and squeezed it and this simple gesture was able to alleviate Kara's inner turmoil, Kara knew that she had forgiven Lena. _

_ Their lunch dates felt more and more like they used to. With one crucial difference: Now that Lena knew about her secret, Kara no longer had to lie to her when she was needed as supergirl. _

_ It took some persuasion on Kara's part to get Lena to come to one of the game nights again. But after attending one, she never missed another. And whenever the group of friends met at Kara's, Lena stayed a little longer after the others had left. The conversations were different from those on their lunch dates. More intimate, quieter. Kara told Lena a lot about her previous life on Krypton and what it was like to find your way on a new planet. Lena also opened up to Kara and talked about her birth mother and her life with the Luthors.  _

_ They talked about everything - except the reason for their big fall out. _

_ From there it was a small step to movie nights with the occasional sleepover. _

_ And then - again months had passed in a hurry, Lena asked Kara to take her on a flight through the night sky of national city. She had never asked anything like this before. Kara knew that _ _ Lena was afraid of flying and that it was a very typical Lena way of telling her that she had made her peace with Kara’s vigilante personality. _

_ They didn't speak during the flight. Kara carried Lena bridal style and her friend had snuggled deeply against the superhero's chest. The feel and smell of Lena in her arms had touched something deep inside of Kara, that she wanted to keep. _

_ They took a short break on the roof of the Central Cinema. Lena asked for it. Kara was amazed when she noticed the blanket that Lena brought with her. They lay on their backs side by side and gazed at the stars. Lena took Kara's hand again: "I missed you very much. Back then. Every day. I hated you, but I mourned you more - I mourned us.“ _

_ Kara turned her head to Lena and repeated her speech about how selfish she had been and how afraid she was of losing Lena. _

_ And then they both started to cry and suddenly they were kissing desperately. And they hadn't stopped for a long time, even on the flight back to Lena's apartment. They kissed and showed each other with their touches, their moans and their passion what the other meant to them. When they first touched each other's cores, they felt an intimate connection that they had never felt with anyone else. _

_ It had been early morning when they were pausing to feed the Kryptonian and hydrate the human. _

_ Since then, lunch appointments included kisses, hugs and ridiculously cute smiles. Movie nights turned into regular sleepovers with lots of cuddling and making love. Both felt they had finally come home, and at their wedding, the word “inevitable” was used in every speech. _

_ There were days when Kara - a house and four children later - still couldn't get who she was so happy. She had married the most brilliant, beautiful, fascinating, perfect woman in the universe and had four disgustingly cute, adventurous, intelligent, talented, nerve-wracking, perfect children with her. She felt more at home in her life than ever. Even more than back on Krypton. _

*******

Lena nestled closer to her wife's warm body and turned to the last picture on the album. It showed the whole family and was taken shortly after Liam was born.

It had been the only time they invited a professional photographer into their home.

The ones where you couldn’t see the faces of the children were used for a story in a magazine about one of the world's most innovative and influential technic companies and its CEO - L-Corp. Lena’s fifth Child, which she was also very proud of.

The picture Kara and Lena were looking at now was one of the private ones. Lena caressed her children's faces on the paper. "How did they grow up so quickly?" she asked. Kara hugged the woman who had captured her heart the first time she met her and kissed her gently on the lips. "I don't know. It's a miracle. Or pasta?" whispered Kara and kissed Lena again, stroked her hair, deepened the kiss, took the glass and the book and placed both on the coffee table and slowly led her woman into the cushions on the couch.

Lena, who still loved to be seduced by her wife, especially when she felt overwhelmed by strong emotions, eagerly replied. Her moans encouraged the blonde woman above her to explore more of her body. "Are we alone?" Lena asked. Kara paused and tried to think clearly for a second. "Yes. But Liam could be home from his basketball practice soon. Bedroom?" Kara mumbled while kissing Lena's neck. "Yes", Lena replied and it was intended as an answer to Kara's question and Kara's actions.

None of them had the faintest idea that this life that they had built together was in great danger of being completely destroyed.


	2. The future can’t wait

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First we go back in time.
> 
> Kara and Lena are interrupted on one of their lunch dates - again - due to super business.
> 
> Someone is killing a lot of aliens and it quickly becomes clear that support from the future is needed.
> 
> The adventure begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story is slowly, very slowly gaining momentum.
> 
> Whenever scientific theories are discussed here, you can be sure: it is total nonsense. Except for a sequence on vaccines in a later chapter.
> 
> In addition, I took it to the extreme with Kara's obliviousness. And I'll expand on that in the next chapter.
> 
> Have fun reading and thank you for reading this!
> 
> English is not my first language. I've written and checked for a long time and hope that everything makes sense and there are not too many mistakes and that they don't bother too much.

**Lena’s office at L-Corp**

_twenty-seven years, or from our perspective about one and a half years in the past_

It was a particularly sunny day in national city. A warm breeze floated through the open doors of the balcony of Lena Luthor’s office at L-Corp.

The CEO and Kara were in the middle of one of their lunch dates. Lena laughed at something Kara had said, which made Kara blush slightly in return.

Suddenly Kara’s phone rang. Reluctantly Kara took it. It was Alex telling her to hurry, because of the super business. “Sorry, but there is an emergency at CatCo. I have to go,” Kara explained, looking unhappy at Lena.

The elegant woman smiled, brought Kara to the door of her office, and said: “Thank you for the salad. It was excellent.” Kara smiled happily at Lena.

They hugged and said their goodbyes.

Kara hated her lame excuses but still hadn’t found the courage to come out to Lena as supergirl. She was afraid for the moment when Lena would find out that she had been hiding so much of herself from her for three years. Kara was convinced that Lena would be devastated and would never want to see her again. And that was just unbearable.

************  
Seven hours later she was standing again in front of the entrance to the L-Corp building, holding a bag of big belly burgers in her hand. It was almost eight, but Kara was sure that Lena was still working. Kara went inside and stepped into the elevator. The smell of delicious grease tainting her taste buds, but suddenly she was sure she’d better bought something healthier.

Jess, Lena’s secretary, was already gone home. The doorman had let her in because Lena had put her on the list of people who could visit her at any time. Kara didn’t know the staff called it the K-list because she was the only one who’d made it on.

Kara knocked and almost immediately heard the camera focus on her and then the zzzz from the automatic door opener. Lena looked at her, sitting behind the desk, but about to get up to greet Kara, who said: „I am so sorry I had to leave early. I suspected you’d still be working, so I brought these,“ Kara held up the bag of burgers. 

„You know you didn’t have to,“ replied Lena and approached Kara. She smiled that lovely smile that made Kara feel things.

„But I appreciate it, I’m only human.“ Lena took the bag and let it fall on her table, crossed her arms and winked at Kara.

Sometimes Kara was sure Lena knew about her secrets - the one about her blue&red suit and the other about her feelings, which she wasn’t quite sure what to call them, friendly didn’t sound wrong but also not a hundred percent right.

What if she just said, "I don't know, because I'm not." How would Lena react? Would she laugh, understand the real meaning behind her words? Would she just leave the room and her life immediately or would she say "I know" and everything would be miraculously fine?

Kara was still daydreaming about being brave when Lena interrupted her thoughts: „Do you want to share your delicious gifts with me?“ raising her brow a way Kara hadn’t learned to handle yet or would ever learn how to handle.

„No, I… I mean yes. Well, I won’t eat them- they are yours. I already ate, but I would love… I mean like to stay here watch you eat them. I mean to keep you company,” Kara rambled. 

„Maybe you should eat something,“ Lena snickered, „until you remember how to use words.”

„Remind me why I brought you food again?“ Kara managed to say. 

Lena laughed, and Kara swooned. Was there a more perfect noise in the universe than Lena's laughter?

They sat on the luxurious white couch in Lena's spacious office. Lena ignored the brown bag with the food for the moment and stared at Kara. "Do you know that you are my favorite?"

Kara's body suddenly became very warm and Kara had to think about that one evening a couple of weeks ago - she had been drunk on alabaster rum – and was one hundred percent sure that Lena was THE ONE. That even the matrix on Krypton would have announced them as perfect partners. Then her alabaster rum-soaked brain had told her the universe might have planned the destruction of Krypton when calculating her soulmate.

She almost broke the nonflyingwhilebeingintoxicated rule to rush to her friend and tell her about it, which would have been a disaster, not just because then Lena would have found out she was supergirl.

Fortunately, she had decided to consult the Fortress of Solitude first to verify her theory. And when she had tried to float, the world had spun around her at a hell of a speed, and suddenly going to sleep seemed to be the only reasonable thing to do.

In the morning she was glad that she hadn't made a big mistake. Soberly, her theory struck her as ridiculous. Which didn't stop her from thinking about it each time she saw Lena.

Lena didn't know that, of course, but she must have felt something, because her attempts to get Kara to blush tripled.

Almost two years later - of which they had hardly spoken to each other for twelve months - and a few weeks after Lena had kissed her for the first time, Lena showed Kara the message the heroine had sent her that evening. Kara's ears had turned dark red.

But at that moment Kara was unaware of the embarrassing alcohol-induced message she wrote and replied, "You're my favorite too".

When Lena leaned back into the pillow, Kara relaxed a little and the clouds in her brain cleared.

A short time later, Kara's phone rang. They had talked for over an hour without realizing the time.

"Sorry - unfortunately I have to take the call". "Of course", Lena answered and began to tidy up the empty paper bags and used napkins.

She tried not to listen, but couldn't help to notice that something serious was going on. Kara's forehead had that look she always had before she had to hurry to say goodbye.

After Kara had finished the call she turned to Lena, frowning: „I am so sorry, but I have to go.“ „ It’s ok. It was lovely seeing you.“ Lena took Kara's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

“Yeah, but I'm so sorry to have to leave so suddenly. I do not like it at all. "

In her head, she added: I wish you would know who I am so that I can tell you where I am going and what I am doing. You are always so understanding while I am lying to you. 

Kara swore that she was gonna come clean and tell Lena everything. Soon.

Right then Kara didn’t know that this was exactly what she was going to do. But not in a way she was prepared for. 

**********

Again it had been Alex on the phone. When Kara touched the balcony of the DEO she noticed the unusual tension of the agents, who were walking around more nervous than usual, shouting information to each other and looking agitated.

Alex was walking fast towards her, face all serious, lips tightly pressed together. 

"What exactly is going on? You scare me, "Kara looked at Alex with wide eyes. Her sister gave her a brief hug and then asked her to follow her: "I'll tell you on the way to the team meeting. "

As Alex walked down the corridor, she began to explain, “There have been a few attacks on, particularly alien sites. There was also a letter of confession. According to this, a previously unknown terrorist organization is threatening to eradicate all extraterrestrial life on this planet. "

Worry lines formed on Kara's face: "That is terrible, but what is behind it? Unfortunately, attacks like these are not uncommon. Something else is going on here." Kara pointed to the hectic excitement around them. "We had a lot of such threats last year."

„Yes, but this is different.” „How?“ Kara asked.

Alex took a deep breath and replied, “1,274 dead aliens in three different locations, killed by an unknown poison. And they say this is just a little warning. "

Kara looked devastated. „But why? A warning? What do they want? “You,” Alex said in a sad voice. They had stepped into the already overcrowded meeting room.

“You have 24 hours to surrender yourself to them, otherwise they will kill again. There's a 99.7% chance they'll act on their threat,” remarked Brainy.

Alex got angry at the man who had just spoken: "We had discussed how to gently tell her all this ..." "We agreed not to lie," said Brainy.

"Do we know who exactly is behind this?" Kara's voice was determined.

"We think it's Cadmus, it could be Lex too - maybe Lillian, or both. But there's only that one anonymous letter and rumors," Alex summarized.

"We believe that they want to build an army and that they need your genes for it," explains Brainy matter-of-factly.

"Brainy, please stop," demanded Alex. "That's not how we talk to ..."

"Hey, Alex. I am not naive. I know who wants me either wants to kill me or use me. "

John greeted them with a small nod: “We just got the news that five other places had been contaminated with the unknown substance. All guests are dead - except for the humans. The good news is that we were able to secure some samples of the poison. Unfortunately, it appears to be a completely unknown substance. Hopefully, our science team will be able to say more about this soon. "  
It took Kara a minute to digest the information. The situation was more serious than she had expected.

"So we don't know what they are being killed with and we cannot cure them. At least at the moment, we have no antidote or anything on hand."

“That’s correct. Our specialists have not yet been able to find a way to decipher the substance. But they will. “John tried to calm her down.

"There's an 87.5% chance they won't make it ..." Alex interrupted Brainy imperturbably, "They don't believe it's alien. They suspect it's highly processed material from Earth."

Without thinking about it for a second, Kara suggested, “We should ask Lena. She will surely be able to help us. She's good with substances. "

"Kara, you can't be serious," James laughed falsely. “You remember that she is a Luthor. I wouldn't be surprised if she's the one behind all of this,“ James continued.

"A) what are you doing here and B) what are you talking about? How can you still be too blind to see who she is? "Kara replied angrily. "She has helped us many times and has proven to be trustworthy every time. Did you forget that she is our friend?“ "She's not my friend and I'm not sure if you're thinking with your head," replied James.

„ Just because she didn’t want to date you doesn’t make her a bad person. It rather makes her a great judge of character, listening to you talking about her like that,“ Kara argued still angry about James and to be honest also about his audacity asking Lena out on a date some weeks ago. She had been there and was about to do something very irrational until she heard Lena decline his offer.

"Just because she didn't want to go out with you doesn't make her a bad person. Rather, it proves her knowledge of human nature when I hear how you talk about her." Kara was getting angrier and angrier at James. And to be honest - it was also due to his audacity when he asked Lena for a date a few weeks ago. Kara had unwillingly heard and was about to do something very irrational, but then Lena declined his offer.

“I never wanted to go out with her. But I have eyes. She is beautiful - as you have surely noticed! But she is dangerous. Don't be fooled by beautiful curves and a piercing pair of green eyes. "

Kara frowned and mumbled, "I can't believe I liked you once.“

J'ohn cleared his throat: “I think Kara is right. Lena might be the right person to help us out. She is a capable young woman who so far has given us no reason to doubt her intentions. The substance that we were able to extract at the crime scene is mysterious. We need all the support we can get."

“Lena is a genius who has nothing to do with the murders. I am sure she will help. I am gonna ask her directly. "

J'ohn nodded, James mumbled something, but nobody paid him any attention.

Kara exchanged a look with her sister that said, "You have to trust me," and then she went to get her best friend to save the world - again.

********  
Five minutes later, Supergirl touched the floor of Lena's balcony in front of her office. She knocked on the glass door.

On the other side of the window, Lena sat at her desk reading an important contract that would give her access to very rare and much-needed materials. She hoped to use it to make prostheses to help people with severe burns.

When she heard the familiar sound of boots on her balcony, it briefly felt as if Kara had come back, a thought that irritated her, but which quickly evaporated. Because Supergirl stood behind the glass and looked very unhappy.

Lena went to the balcony door, pressed the open button and greeted the serious heroine with a cheering grin: “What kind of emergency brings you to me, Supergirl? Judging by the look on your face, we are on the verge of the end of the world! "

Kara relaxed a little. Lena had this effect on her. She made her nervous and brought something deep inside her to calm at the same time: “That is quite possible. But luckily we have you on our side! "

“Oh Supergirl, such a charmer?” Lena flirted.  
When Supergirl blushed, Lena smiled contentedly, but quickly switched to her business personality: "How can I help?"

Kara looked briefly down at her boots and then looked up: "An as yet unknown terrorist organization is threatening to kill all aliens on earth if I don't put myself in their hands. And there is some evidence that they are not just bluffing.“

"Oh - how original," Lena said derogatorily. “By yet unknown do you mean members of my family? How exactly can I help? "

"Possibly, but we don't know that yet. There is no definitive letter of responsibility. We don't know much, only that over 1,000 aliens have already been killed with a poison that is completely unknown to the DEO. They cannot assign or decipher it. So no antidote or even better a kind of vaccination is known and cannot be invented. If we don't find a cure, I'll have to surrender myself. Which I would like to avoid. But I can't allow that they keep killing innocent people. It would be great if you took a look at the substance. You are the only person I believe can do more than the entire DEO team. "

Lena hated her family, especially what had become of the individual members. She had once been very proud of her brother. But that was before he turned into a sociopath or before she saw his real face. In either case, she would try to prevent them from harming more people. Also, she didn't want to live in a world created by her hateful family members.

Lena also loved the challenge. She was already fascinated by this unknown substance, what exactly it was and how it was built. It was also very tempting to solve a task that an organization like the DEO couldn’t crack.

Somewhere in the back of her mind she also noticed another motivator that made her want to help them. It was a mixture of two feelings that were so strange or unfamiliar to her that it took her a while to be able to name them.

She was proud and happy. Proud and happy that Supergirl trusted her. Supergirl had faith in her.

Lena - never the one who showed her feelings openly - tried to maintain an aura of indifference as she said, “Sure. I will help. If I can. Do you have samples?"

„ Of cause we do. At the DEO,” Kara nodded at the balcony „ I could fly you....“

„No way ... It's not that kind of emergency that requires flying. I'll take the car and I'll be there in 30 minutes.

„Thank you, Ms. Luthor.“

"You can thank me later when I was teaching Alex Danvers how to properly analyze a substance," Lena teased.

***************************

When Kara got back to the DEO, James was standing on the balcony: “I told you she had bad blood. Well, I think you had to ask her for help. Now that this idea is no longer in your system, we can work on a solid plan.

"She'll be here in 30 minutes," Kara replied stiffly.

And as promised, Lena's heels echoed through the DEO entrance hall half an hour later.

Win greeted them and took them to the labs where Alex, Brainy and Kara were already waiting.

James wasn't there so the atmosphere Lena entered was almost inviting. It was evident that Alex still wasn't the biggest fan of her sister's best friend, but even she managed not to stare openly disapprovingly at the youngest Luthor.

It was easy for Kara to detect that Lena had put some extra walls around her to protect herself.

When they were alone, Lena was very different. Even when she was alone with Supergirl. But only in Kara's presence did Lena allow glimpses of her true self. This realization warmed Kara's heart and she also felt sorry for her friend, who must often feel very lonely.

Kara understood very well why Lena was so entrenched. And that made her sad because these were her people and they should also be Lena's people. She felt a longing growing in her not only to protect Lena's body but all to protect the person inside it.

At the same time, Kara was proud that Lena always faced these situations, even though some people at DEO made her feel unwelcome.

It had been worse before she'd proven again and again which side she was on. But she was still the sister or daughter of the most famous and dangerous alien haters in the world.

Lena did not wait to be spoken to and explained: "Supergirl informed me about the terrorist attacks against aliens and about the substance that needs to be analyzed."

Alex nodded and pointed to a microscope. “You can take a first look at the structure of the substance”. Lena couldn't help it, curiosity took over and she hurriedly stepped to the microscope to introduce herself to the mysterious poison.

“From what surface or what kind of race did you collect it? I can see that it is contaminated, "Lena asked.

„We took this from the nasal septum of a dying Laroo," explained Alex. “We have five more samples. None of them without contamination. You will see that the substance reacts perfectly to each different specious, sticking cells together until the affected person either suffocates or other important parts of the body die. It's harmless to humans. The poison encapsulates, slides through the organism, and comes out again naturally. That*s how we got two of the samples.“

Alex put five vials next to Lena. "These are the other samples."

"I assume the lab is ready so we can start right now?" Alex nodded affirmatively.

Lena wasted no time and got to work immediately. Kara was intrigued by the way Lena's facial features changed as soon as she went from CEO to Scientist Genius. The occasions when she saw her friend do what she loved were rare.

Lena didn't say anything except to ask about various materials, instruments, and devices. Much to Alex's disapproval, she had brought her laptop. Which meant that Lena could keep her methods and her findings to herself for the time being.

After twenty minutes she looked up to find eight eyes that had followed her every movement, staring at her.

Alex for protecting the mission, Brainy and Win for science, and Kara because she couldn’t stop for just finding out that Lena in science mode was the hottest thing she'd ever seen.

"Aren't you needed elsewhere?" asked Lena. They all awoke from their stupor and began doing something similarly ineffective. Except for Brainy, who simply said, "No."

Shortly afterward he was pulled away by Win, who whispered something to Brainy, which made Brainy cough indignantly. He looked like he was going to protest, which was followed by more whispers and they finally left the room.

Alex stared at Lena one last time and then left the room. She also saved Kara from saying something stupid by pulling her along.

**************

After an hour Kara stepped back into the lab, fresh coffee, and a doughnut in her hands. 

Lena looked up: „You are a lifesaver. I could kill for a coffee. I didn’t mean that though,“ Lena clarified smirking at Kara. 

Kara, who was usually the epitome of lightness, now said: “I know. I trust you. "

Why couldn't she just keep it simple? But Lena didn't seem to mind. She smiled as if she had enjoyed the short declaration.

„So, could you find something out?“ Kara curiously stepped next to Lena. 

After taking a sip of coffee, Lena replied: "I don't know what it is yet, but I can assure you that it is earthly. I won't be able to develop an antidote in the short term. The technology behind it is far more advanced than everything science knows so far. It's pretty fascinating, to be honest. This is where several bold theories have been put into practice. And ... I can't get rid of the feeling that some of it could be based on research we do at L-corp. " Lena's voice had become a little hesitant.

“We have just started the project. And it's completely secret. I am the only one who knows about all the components of research. „ She looked Kara in the eye to make sure the blonde woman understood what she was saying, "I'm 100% sure no data has been stolen from my lab. "

Embarrassed, she rubbed the fingers of her left hand on the ring finger of her right: “But even if information had been stolen, that would only have been the basis for this. We are just getting started. It will take ages before we can apply any of our research. If I had to guess, I would say that this substance is based on science that we will master in ten years or more.  
So - none of that makes sense. And of course, our research is intended to be used only to cure, not to destroy. But I don't need to tell you that knowledge can never be used in one way only."

Kara's eyes were still on Lena, but her thoughts processed what Lena had just told her.

“What if it's science from another world? Much was different on Krypton. "

"Possible - but I don't think so. All the elements used can be found on earth and there are no unearthly physical or chemical rules in here. Maybe ..." Lena had a new idea.

She started working on something while interacting with supergirl, who brought up some interesting ideas. Which was a big surprise for Lena. Not that supergirl was incredibly intelligent herself, but that she didn't bother her. Usually, she preferred to work alone. She was never one to work on a team. The partnership with Jack had been an exception, and back then they had worked side by side on their areas of expertise.

She even had to admit that she enjoyed working with her.  
Lena realized that there was only one other person she felt the same or more comfortable with. And that was Kara.

Unfortunately, they were still far from a solution. Hope and frustration had alternated all day and evening. Hungry, tired, and after testing many ideas, Lena convinced Alex to give her a small portion of the substance.

She had several other instruments at home and wanted to test a few more theories in her laboratory.

Kara volunteered to accompany her but was then needed as Supergirl.

**********

Lena called Alex the next morning: "I don't like to admit it, but I can't help you. As I told supergirl, I guess I would be able to do so a few years in the future.“

Alex was the first to speak after a long period of silence: „Well, that's unfortunate, but thank you Ms. Luthor for trying."

"I haven't done one thing yet," Lena spoke in a deep, clear voice.

"What?" Alex didn't like this game.

Lena continued but now sounded a bit hesitant: “Well, I think the substance does not come from our time. I think it was made in the future. It's a shame they are using it for something so destructive. There are so many good things you could do with this technique - cure many diseases instead of causing them, for example. "

There was silence again on both sides of the phone. Alex coughed and then said, "So we need a miracle."

"Or what you need is still me," Lena answered.

Alex was just about to speak when Lena interrupted her and demanded in a decisive tone: "Meet me tonight at eight o'clock in my apartment. Bring Supergirl, ” and then she hung up.

Lena sat in her chair in silence. Her attitude slowly changed from confident to insecure. Did she make the right decision? This plan could be dangerous. Supergirl could die.

************  
It was five to eight when her doorman announced: "... Ms. Danvers and em Supergirl have arrived." Gerd sounded astonished, although it was a known fact that the youngest Luthor and the resident superhero had mastered some challenges together. Besides, Lena had announced her arrival in advance.

"Yes, I am expecting them. Thank you, Gerd.“

A few minutes later, Alex and Supergirl were in Lena's living room.

"Well, you live like a billionaire," said Alex. Supergirl was thrilled: “I love these pictures. Oh, Rao, these are originals.“ Supergirl spoke the last words with admiration.

"Yes, they are," Lena couldn't help but brag a little in front of Supergirl. She was very proud of her collection of modern art.

"Exclusively female painters," Supergirl nodded approvingly. “Yes”, Lena replied, “Art has been dominated by men for far too long. I especially love the pieces that give a perspective on things, situations that have long been considered too unimportant to be celebrated as art, like this …" She was interrupted by Alex: „As cultivated as your art talk maybe, we are here for serious business. "

„What could be more serious than reflections on life, Mrs. Danvers? “, Lena answered.

"The deaths of thousands of aliens," Alex wavered.

Lena looked coldly at Alex: “People have underestimated me all my life. But I care. Otherwise, you wouldn't be here. "

"Loving art is not a crime," Kara said simply. Lena and Alex had the feeling that she had just picked aside. A small smile appeared on Lena's mouth: "If you would follow me, please." She turned around and walked down the hall, accompanied by an angry-looking Alex and a very excited superhero.

Lena led them into another room that was not difficult to recognize as her home laboratory. It was very brightly lit by white LED lights and had no windows. There were white cabinets neatly lined up - several machines, tubes, and instruments.

At the back of the room was a construction that looked like a small gray freight container and was the size of a shower cubicle.

"As you both know, we cannot decipher the poison with which the terrorist attacks were carried out with the means at our disposal."

Lena paused and walked towards the strange construction, while her heels left acoustic traces on the smooth floor.

“That's why we have to talk to someone who has the appropriate knowledge and the necessary technical tools.” Alex just stared, but Kara nodded star-stucked.

"What we have to ...", Lena sounded almost as if she were presenting an idea to the board of directors, "... is traveling into the future. Or rather one of us has to do that. I've been tinkering with this machine since I was 15. I think it works. I haven't been able to test it myself yet because the human bone structure would not withstand this type of transport in this model. Of course, I'm working on it. Do you understand what I mean by that? "

“You hope that your more experienced self can help. But you are also not 100% sure that Supergirl might not die in your death trap on the journey through time and space ”, Alex summed up a little indignantly.

Lena sounded angry: "Well, you haven't come up with anything better yet, have you?

Supergirl put in cheerfully: "I'm sure Mrs. Luthor wouldn't have suggested this if she wasn't sure it was safe for me, right Lena?"

Kara looked at Lena with so much confidence that Lena was tempted to end this adventure immediately. No one had ever looked at her with so much hope and confidence. Except maybe her best friend.

This morning Lena had been sure of her suggestion, but when she saw Supergirl willingly putting her life in her hands, she questioned the decision. What if she miscalculated something? What if her idea killed Supergirl? But she was also pretty sure she hadn't made a mistake. She had never miscalculated before in her life. And doing nothing wasn't a solution either? Because it was very likely that not only Supergirl would die if her family wasn't stopped.

With trained professionalism, she said: "Of course I am sure!"

“The only thing that worries me is the fact that time travel like this can lead to infinite time loops. Especially when the past travels into the future. It causes instability in time and space and was one of the biggest obstacles in the development of this vehicle. I invented a timeshieldstabilitor that can dampen the effects of the interaction of the timelines. The result: if you use this machine, your future self will not know that you are coming.

There is always a first time, an original. You will travel to this original. The future of the original timeline will remain exactly as it is now until something really dramatic happens in the past or if the past intervenes dramatically in the future.

Our timeline became a copy because we were attacked from the past. This created a new timeline, In the original future,  
the attacks did not take place, you did not travel to the future, and so on. The stabilizer separates the two times and keeps them apart as long a nothing dramatically happens. The most dramatic thing would be the death of the cause. Death has consequences for all timelines. You have to think of the stabilator as a thin layer of rubber that can be stretched but will tear if you press too much. Or if it is teased too often. This is one of the reasons why you shouldn’t stay too long. And should something dramatic happen here during this time, it will also have consequences in the future. So you have to hurry up in any case.

Because your future you won’t know about all of this, you will have to do a lot of explaining.”

Kara had listened in silence. When Lena paused, she threw herself into her supergirl posture and said: "That sounds doable,“ and smiled reassuringly at Lena and again Lena felt guilty when she saw all this optimism on the superhero's face.

Alex wasn't convinced at all. What followed was an epic discussion, but in the end, Supergirl decided to go. And because another message of three new attacks just had come in, she decided not to wait and to go now.

It took Lena a while to explain how to fly the machine. It wasn't much more complicated than driving a car. Even so, Lena had gone through the mechanism three times with Kara.

Finally, she gave the heroine a handwritten instruction manual in case something should go wrong. “I updated it last night. There is a step-by-step guide for every situation I can think of. "

Kara looked dreamily at the black-haired woman.

There was a moment when the air between the two women warmed. Lena felt it too and tried to shove it deep into one of her boxes.

Alex interrupted the situation and therefore supported both women in their respective attempts to suppress the attraction between them: “That is very nice of you, Ms. Luthor. But it's still a very flimsy plan. For example, we didn't think about what to do when the older you changed sides ... "

"This is the first time you've admitted I'm on your side …"

And immediately Kara was back in defense mode: “I know that she will always be on our side. I am much more concerned about the future Lena. There are so many targets on her back. It's far more likely that she was killed than that she turned evil. I'm sorry for being so frank here, Lena,“ for a moment she had forgotten that she wasn't here as Kara: „Alex, please give her a break ", which was followed by an impatient look at Alex.

Lena often wondered what relationship there was between Kara's sister and Supergirl. There had been a time when she thought they were together. When they found out that Alex was related to Maggie, the question was superfluous.

“Thank you for your trust. And I don't consider speaking out a possible probability to be a crime - at least in my book. Just try to land the time machine in one piece. Because if I haven't survived in this future, otherwise no one can send you back. "

"Another valid point not to go," said Alex.

„I beg to differ. For me it's pretty useful information to increase my motivation to concentrate on a perfect maneuver," said Kara. Then she hugged Alex and told her that she loved her. Alex replied and held hold on to her sister. "Be careful and don't you dare not come back! I'm going to kick your ass on game night and you won't take that away from me. "

Lena was again confused by the dynamic between the hero and the agent but was soon distracted by the blonde woman who was about to climb into the machine.

"Wait," said Kara and stopped, suddenly she felt the need to give Lena something - just in case they saw each other for the last time. She was her best friend after all.

"Do you have paper and a pen?" asked the blonde woman. Lena and Alex both looked confused, Lena recovered first and handed Supergirl a pen and a packet of yellow post-its.

Kara scribbled something on the first piece of paper, folded it up, and shyly handed it to Lena. "If I don't come back, read this." Kara looked seriously at Lena, who took the piece of paper and looked at the heroine as if she had understood something important, but in a language, she did not yet speak.

"How long?" Lena asked. Kara's cheeks turned red. "How long what?" Kara asked hesitantly. "How long should I wait to read it?" "Ah, I don't know - maybe a week?" Kara sought help from Alex. But she didn’t say anything.

"The terrorists have threatened to carry out their warning if I don't hand myself over to them within a week.  
So I must have come back here again within this time with a good plan. So if I don't get back within a week, the chances are high that I won't come back at all, ”argued Kara.

Kara stepped back to the door frame of the time machine. She looked at Alex and Lena one last time before entering. The door closed behind her. She sat in the narrow cockpit, fastened the seat belt, then pressed the large red button.

*****************

Driving in the vehicle felt like crashing in an airplane. But without being able to fly. She wasn't a fan.

Panic crept into her heart. This felt too much like that time when she was trapped in a capsule that brought her to Earth from Krypton. A ride that had lasted for years and years and years. Eternity fell on Kara. It was worse than her worst nightmare.

Kara completely forgot to look in the manual Lena had given her.

After a while, the machine suddenly came to a hold. There was a cracking noise, a loud bang, some smoke, and then - there was silence.

Kara took a deep breath and opened the door.

The landscape she was looking at seemed familiar. And after a while, the relief tamed the panic that still flowed briskly through her veins.

She had landed on a beach in Midvale, just like Lena had programmed the machine. Lena had mentioned that it would be a good place to hide the vehicle because Kara knew her way around this place. There were also caves, and if she was lucky, a far more perfect storage opportunity would be nearby - the barn of Eliza's house.

But the machine had not survived the landing. It was broken. She tried it with optimism: "You don't have to find the perfect place to hide it." But she was also well aware of the new problem she was facing. If there wasn't a Lena here, she would be lost.

**********************  
Kara didn't know if her mother was still living in her house after 27 years. Lena had calculated that the technical sophistication with which the poison had been produced would probably only be developed in 15 to 20 years. She had decided to add another seven years to be safe and to have an advantage over the attackers because the technology would have evolved again.

"27 is also a magic number," she had said. A reference to the death of many famous rock musicians at the age of 27. Alex didn't like that explanation, but Kara loved it. What you find good when you find someone good.

Eliza, Kara’s human mother would have retired by now, maybe sold the house, she might even be dead. Kara decided that she was not going to find out. She would dump the broken vehicle in one of the caves. If somebody would find it there it didn’t matter.

What mattered was finding Lena.

**********************

Kara had changed and put on civil clothes. Lena and she had decided that she would try to meet Lena first at L-Corp.

And here she was now - in front of the impressive building. It still had a large L-Corp sign on the facade. The style was a little different from what Kara knew. She suspected that this must be the result of a re brush of L-Corp's corporate design. She liked the new style.

The people on the street were dressed differently from her time, too. Ethnic looks combined with 80ties hairstyles, very fine trimmed beards, and all genders were wearing elegant pant skirts and a lot of them were also wearing rubber boots with high heels. 

If someone asked Kara why she wore such old fashioned clothes, she would tell them something about how she was ahead of the times with her retro looks. But no one was looking at them, all too busy going anywhere.

Kara noticed that there were hardly any cars on the road.

The heroine didn’t want to get lost in the wonders of the future and focused on her mission.

The entrance hall of L-Corp hadn’t changed that much. The furniture was new and more colorful.

There were impressive pieces of art hanging on the walls. The one on the right wall intrigued Kara and she stopped to get a better look at it.

Someone had painted the woods of Argo. She gasped and a heavy but warm feeling bloomed in her chest.

She couldn't take her eyes off the painting. "It's an amazing painting," a deep voice startled her. When she turned she looked into soft brown eyes that belonged to a uniformed person. The Porter. Kara didn't know him. He must be new. Of course, they were 27 years in the future.

"Ms. Kara, may I be so open and ask what you are doing here?"

Kara was confused. „Why wouldn’t I be here?“ Oh no - wasn't she still friends with Lena? Then why did the porter know her name?

„If I am not mistaken, today is the big day of young Lennox. I am surprised to see you here. Mrs. Lena went home hours ago. I just assumed....“ 

Kara tried to go with the flow although having no idea what the doorman was talking about. At least she and Lena were still good friends in the future if she didn’t read too much into his words: „Yes, sorry, she forgot something important at her office and asked me to go fetch it.“ 

Kara improvised while she pondered who Lennox could be and why she was so important to the well-known workaholic Lena that she was leaving her office early and what was to happen today.

The posture of the doorman softened. „Oh, I see. Never thought I would see Mrs. Lena forgetting something. But this being a special day even geniuses are just human,” he laughed warmly. “Good for her she has you,” he winked. “ I won’t hold you up any longer. Mrs. Lena won't want to wait for her hero.  
Mrs. Kara - it was nice talking to you. You know the way. And please send my congratulations to young Ms. Lennox.“

Kara nodded, her cheeks burned, her heart beat faster than she thought possible. He knew her secret, didn't he? He could not. But he openly indicated it. She hadn't imagined that. Has she? Shit, shit, shit ... or was it a good thing.

She couldn't make up her mind and went blindly to the elevators.

The doorman was about to change directions but saw Kara in front of the public lifts. He frowned. Maybe she wasn’t that unaffected by Lennox’s ceremony as he had assumed.

Leaning his arm toward Kara he said: „May I lead you to the elevator. It’s not easy watching them growing up and leaving the nest,” he said in a deep fatherly voice. 

He brought her to the private elevator and made sure the right level was selected. „Greetings to the whole family,“ were the last words the doorman spoke before the doors closed and she was lifted to the 25th floor. 

Who was flying out of the nest? Had that been another code for him knowing she was supergirl? 

She hadn’t noticed how fast the modern lift had carried her to the 25th floor and she was startled when the doors opened again. 

And then she realized that she had no reason to be here at all. The doorman had said that Lena wasn’t here but at home and Kara had no idea where that home might be.

She had improvised and now she was here- on Lena’s floor. 

She stepped in front of the elevator. It was the same floor Lena had worked on in her day.

Kara soon noticed not being alone. The secretary, who was in her late forties, had fluffy red hair and an open smile. Kara didn’t know her, but the woman greeted Kara like an old acquaintance. 

Without looking up the secretary said: „Hallo Kara. Mr. Binsley already told me you were here to collect something Lena had forgotten. You know the way.“

Kara's gaze panicked the room for a clue to the woman's name. She found an L-Corp ID dangling from the secretary's chair. It said: Marijke Linus. "Thank you, Ms. Linus."

According to the reaction from the woman behind the counter, Kara knew that she had made a mistake. „Ms. Linus? Are you alright Kara?“

Kara, suddenly realizing that she would be on a first-name basis with her best friend's secretary replied:  
“No, yes, I mean sorry. It’s just nerves. You know- the big event today.“ 

The secretary’s expression changed into one that signaled to understand. „All will be fine. I couldn’t imagine a couple better prepared for the big day of their baby girl. She worked so hard for it. Please hug Lexi from me. She will be brilliant, like always.“

This Lexi / Lennox character was very popular.  
Kara was curious to meet her. Was she some kind of Lena‘s protégée? Or - was Lena a mother? And hadn’t Marijke said something about a couple. Was Lena married and to whom? Kara felt something heavy in her stomach, it was hurting her and made breathing harder.

“But why didn't you take the other entrance?” Kara looked surprised and replied ineloquently: “The other entrance!” “If I could fly, I would never take an elevator again in my life”, Marijke explained and looked back at their screen.

Lena's secretary knew she was supergirl, too? Did everybody know?

If everybody knew about her alter ego, wouldn’t that be dangerous for her and everyone close to her?

But Lena knowing and still being her friend would make things so much easier for her mission. Kara had been a little anxious about the fact she still hadn’t come out to Lena as supergirl. She couldn’t imagine a situation in which Lena had forgiven her lying for so many years.

„I...“ Kara was lost, but Marijke helpfully filled in the blanks: „You are so nervous that you forgot you can fly?“ she let out a burst of deep laughter. „That’s the third time now - as far as I know. Kids graduation can be very stressful- I guess... wouldn’t have imagined that it comes close to expecting your first child, but what do I know....“ she tried to concentrate again on her work. 

Kara’s brows crumpled, but she nodded. A small: „I guess,“ left her mouth.

The secretary looked at her again and shook her head: „And what are you wearing, dear? Did you lose a bet? Are you still into that prank war with Lisa? I might not know about raising children but I know for sure Lena will never let you wear THAT at the graduation ceremony of her oldest daughter.“

Kara looked down at her blue shirt and gray chinos. "Yes," she said more like a question than an answer. It got more and more ridiculous.

And then she realized what had just been revealed - Lexi was Lena's daughter.

She should be happy for her best friend, right? But all she could think of was the child's father, Lena's husband.

Who? Why? The thought of Lena, who was married, depressed her. But then a new thought tried to lighten their mood: maybe in the future people will stop marrying. The thought that there had to be a man in Lena's life was pretty conservative, wasn't it? But to whom was she kidding? Of course, the beautiful, wonderful genius Lena wouldn't have stayed single forever ...

She tried to concentrate on a different subject. How she could find Lena. She couldn’t ask Marijke to give her the address. It would be suspicious if Kara didn’t know where her best friend lived.

She could try Lena's old apartment and hope that her friend would still live there. It was big enough for a family.

This time she would use the balcony. She couldn’t handle any awkward talks with the people in the future Lena’s life. 

Kara coughed: „I do have to hurry up if I want to be on time. It was nice talking to you. I‘ll take the balcony... Thank you and see you soon.“ 

And with a small wave of her hand Kara slipped inside Lena’s office.

Kara took some deep breaths.

This room smelled like Lena. Her Lena. She missed Lena. Her stomach felt funny being in this room. Alone.

She looked around. Lena’s office hadn’t changed much, but like the lobby, it was a little more colorful than before.  
Lena’s desk and her couch stood at the same place and looked new but similar in style and shape. Lena loved classic designs.

The biggest difference was the big painting above the couch.  
It was made by the same artist as the one in the lobby, but this one showed a sunset in Argo.

She understood that the pieces were her work.  
Kara was stunned. Lena owned inexplicable valuable and outstanding art pieces from well-decorated artists around the world. Nevertheless, she had decided to use Kara’s paintings to hang them at the walls of the entrance and her office at L-Corp. The two places she came by daily. Lena had surrounded herself with Kara’s art. At least at work. And Lena worked all the time.

Kara's heart burst with pride. Lena loved her work. Lena loved … that must mean they still were very close. But her feelings were not important at the moment. She was here to save the past. Not to spy on the future of their best friends.

Logically, after thinking that thought, she decided to look around before she left - just checking if there was any useful information lying around - like Lena's home address.

Maybe she should visit the DEO first, they could have this information, but she didn't want to. If she was being honest she was a little worried that it might still be difficult between the DEO and Lena. And that's when Kara realized that if she had to take sides, it wasn't a question of whose side she was on.

Not to forget that Lena was the one who sent her here. If she couldn't find them alone, she would go to the DEO.

But first, she would fly to Lena’s old apartment. Maybe she was lucky. Yes, that’s what she was going to do.

Maybe she could find Lena if she would fly over the city and listen for her heartbeat? That was another good idea. She turned around and went to the balcony when her eyes fell on a picture that was on Lena's desk. Something on that had caught her attention. As if she was sleepwalking, she went back to the desk, looked at the picture, and took it in her hands without thinking about it.

Lena was in the middle of the picture. She had aged beautifully. Her face still gracious and enigmatic, determined but at the same time softer than when she had been younger. Lena looked happy. 

Beside Lena stood two tall women, one blond like Kara, the other raven-haired, maybe one shade lighter than Lena. There was also a boy with red hair and a cute open smile and another girl with a face that resembled Lena so much that Kara was sure: these were Lena’s kids. The brunette woman also looked a lot like her, the blond had her eyes and smile and the boy had some resemblance to Lex-maybe it was just the hair. But he also reminded her of another person dear to her. Clark maybe? Well, that couldn’t be. Or could it? No. Clark and Lois were perfect for each other. Nono. When she thought about it, the boy looked much more like Lena than anyone else.

Behind the boy and the younger girl stood another adult, one hand lightly on the teenagers' shoulders. And this woman was herself. In the middle of Lena's family. Smiles like Kara had never seen herself smile before.

They must be super best friends here - Kara thought - being in one picture with Lena and her children. In a frame, which also stood on Lena's desk - that had to mean something.

Kara felt overwhelmed as if something big had just been revealed. Well, it was a big surprise to learn that Lena was the mother of four children. But something was wrong and she couldn't imagine what it could be. It felt like looking at a glass door without being able to see through it.

And then suddenly she felt a tingling sensation spreading all over her body. What was the matter with her? Why did looking at the picture make her happier than anything had ever before?

The shatter of glass put her out of her thoughts. The frame had slipped out of her hands.

„Is everything ok Kara?“ Marijke who had been startled by the sudden noise was standing in the door. 

„No, uhm, yes, everything is ok.“ Kara finally had an idea. „Would you do me a favor and call the driver to bring me home to Lena,“ she added, „I think I am too nervous to fly safe and have no suite with me either.“

„Lexi growing up does a number on you. I can’t remember that you ever used Frank, but sure - I will call him.“

„Thank you.“

„But I won’t let you out of this easily! For all the times you reprimanded me for taking the car. You of all people always telling me that we all should walk more.“ Kara mumbled: „Yes, and I still copy that. But today is special and haven’t I must have also talked about rare but necessary exceptions...“ 

„You said the only exception would be wearing high heels, which you made up because you love Lena in these ridiculously high shoes ...“ 

Which was true. Kara didn't like the fact that Marijke could read them so easily. Maybe Lena could too? Did her best friend know she was attracted to her? Was it uncomfortable between them?

„Yes, and this is the other exception. Because erm - Lena!“ 

What a stupid explanation, she scolded herself.  
Marijke simply smiled knowingly and left the room.

**********************

Less than ten minutes later, Kara was sitting in a black limousine, wondering where the car would take her.

After a forty-five minute drive out of the city into the countryside, the car stopped in front of a nice three stock building, that was secured by a high iron gate and a massive hedge around the property. The house, or rather the villa, had red roof tiles and was an exquisite combination of old, classy, modern, and beautiful.  
  
Kara was thrilled when she saw it.

The gate was open and Frank drove her to the steps of the entrance.

Kara thanked Frank profusely and went to the door. Should she ring the doorbell? Maybe she should wait a few days. Get to know this Lena from afar.  
And let the family enjoy their grand ceremony ...

But then she remembered that there was no time to waste. If the attackers succeeded in their time, this would also have fatal consequences for this timeline. And that could also affect Lena. Could this rival a daughter's graduation? She hoped it could. Otherwise, Lena could still refuse to help, right?

There were a bell and an old-school door-knocker in the form of a lion with a ring through his mouth. She decided to use the latter. She composed herself and thought about how she should start the conversation. She had briefly practiced with Lena but had to remember what they had come up with.

She knocked.

After a few moments, she heard noises from the other side of the door. It was opened by the teenager in the picture on Lena's desk. She was standing next to him, a little older, with a completely perplexed expression on her face. Lena didn't seem the least bit surprised.

And then the three said at the same time:  
"Jeju?" " Who are you?" "Hello Kara"


	3. Timing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We learn what Kara, Lena and their family made in the hour before the guest of the past arrived.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is only a short intermediate chapter. It will take a while before I upload the next chapter as it has already been written but has to be revised.  
> If you have any wishes or suggestions for the story, I'll try to incorporate them. If they fit in. Because the big picture is already there. Hope you'll enjoy!

  
**timing**

  
_still in the Luthor-Danvers-mansion, an hour earlier (still 27 years in the future)_   
_*****************_

The sun bathed the red brick villa and the adjacent forest in the warm light of the sun, which was slowly getting ready for its way to rest for the day. There was a feverish calm in the air that only the afternoon hours of a hot summer day can offer.

  
The atmosphere in the mansion wasn't nearly as peaceful. Loud beat-heavy music boomed through the second floor of the three-story building. The deep bass sounds could be heard well into the living room on the first floor, where two women were preparing to leave the house.

"Darling, did you see my blue necklace?" Lena asked, standing on one foot, putting on the other high heel, and looking for the missing jewelry.  
"The one we bought in Venice?" answered Kara from behind the kitchen island.  
She had just finished a huge bowl of pasta. In this household, such dishes were referred to as “light afternoon snacks” because five out of six residents had an extremely high metabolism.

„Yes, and can you please tell Liam to turn the music down - or at least tell him to close his door. One of the reasons we used a soundproof one was to give him the freedom to destroy his ears without killing my last nerve. "  
"I remember that the main reason for the soundproof doors was to protect the children's ears from hearing their mothers having fun," whispered Kara, who had stepped next to her wife, in her ear.

A door slammed shut.

Lena ignored the whispered words: "Please tell Liam that he has to be ready in ten minutes!" while she looked in the mirror, and made sure that her make-up was perfect, and decided to apply more lipstick.  
"I'm planning on having some fun tonight so let's not kill the vibe by being late," she added, winking at Kara through the mirror.

  
Kara, who had just started to take the stairs that led to her son's room on the second floor, tripped and almost destroyed the precious wood of the banister, but caught herself in the last millisecond. Lena still had this effect on her.  
  
Kara reached his door and knocked. There was no response - just as she had expected - so she knocked again, but this time she used a special pattern that had become established in this household. It roughly meant, “Your mother is about to explode. Cooperate or you won't hear the end of it.“ At that point, the music became much quieter.

  
“Tell her I'll be in the car on time. Please don't get so upset. I really wish Lisa was here. She can always best soothe Mom with her audacity. She first flips, but then…” Liam complained, annoyed.  
Kara opened the door and entered.  
"Hey - since when do we step in without being asked in?", Liam did not sound really angry.  
"I knocked. And I didn't know you turned your room into a private club? Or why is half the house shaking from the bass booming from this room," Kara replied, „and please hurry up. You have ten, no, only eight minutes to get ready," Kara glanced briefly at her watch. Totally old-fashioned, but she loved it.

  
"Your mother is absolutely right," Lena also entered his room. Her arms crossed in front of her chest.  
„Hey - that's not fair. I just tested my new subwoofer - I built it myself. You should be proud of me! Besides, I wouldn't be here with you if I had been able to accompany my sisters to this chic girls' school. It is completely unfair that I was not allowed to go, too. I would also have liked to help Lexi with packing. How do you think I’m feeling. As the only sibling, who is not allowed to support his sister, just because I am a boy. Sometimes it really is wretched to be the only man in this house ... “, Liam defended himself and reflected his mother's attitude.

  
"Inah. I know this must seem unfair to you because it's unfair. And your sisters would like to have you there with them ... ", Kara tried to comfort her.

  
“Don't let him play you. As if he were interested in helping with the packing. And he's allowed to go to the graduation party. Liam, I suppose being the only boy is difficult sometimes, but that doesn't make it right to be late. They'll tell you the most important gossip soon enough when we meet with them. So please hurry - you have four minutes left. "

  
“We'd have plenty of time if we just flew there,” Liam sounded offended.

  
"Liam no," Lena's voice was stern again. "You know exactly why that isn’t an option, hurry,“ Lena stepped out of the room. On the way back to the stairs she muttered, "... and they said boys are easy."

  
Kara followed her, put her hands on her waist, and hugged her: "He will be ready in two minutes and Lexi will be exceptional as always. You don't have to worry, baby. And I found your necklace. Let me put it on you, I'll get Liam, and then we'll leave the house. "  
Kara carefully closed the clasp, kissed her wife's neck, and gently stroked her back. Lena visibly relaxed briefly pressed herself to her wife's body and nodded.  
  
Lena was nervous. She knew that and she knew that her family had also noticed. It wasn't just the graduation. Lexi also wanted to go on a trip around the World with Kyle. She liked Kyle very much. They and Lexi have been friends since they were eight years old. At that time Kyle was still called Jennifer but had come out as non-binary at 17.  
Ever since Lexi announced their plans, she was in a euphoric mood.

  
Lena knew that her children were protected by their kryptonite blood - but also especially in danger since they also were the heirs of two famous bloodlines that had many enemies. Even if there were no more incidents in recent years.  
She probably just had to get used to the idea that her children wanted to enjoy their lives. She could understand that Lexi just wanted to be Lexi and not Lena Luther's daughter, or for those who knew it, Supergirl's successor. Whereby Lexi had made it very clear several times that she had no interest in such a life for herself.

Two minutes later, the well-dressed and unfairly attractive family stood in the hallway, putting on their cloaks.

  
That was when they heard a knock on the door. Kara and Liam looked questioning at Lena, they weren't expecting any visitors. With an annoyed smile, she said, "I'm not the one with X-ray vision,“ but turned around to open the door.

  
Both Kara and Liam immediately stepped protectively in front of her.

The surprise was written on all three faces. At about the same time they said, like a very poorly coordinated choir: "Jeju?" "Who are you?" "Hello, Kara!"


	4. Forth and back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara meets Lena and her family. How do they react to the visitor from the past and can and will Lena really help to save the past?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to let you know: google is my beta reader, which sometimes leads to silly translation errors. If I've overlooked one, please tell me.
> 
> Comments are always welcome. Have a good start to the week.

**_forth and back_ **

_  
the Luthor-Danvers mansion, 27 years in the future_

***************

Although the photo on the desk had Kara prepared a little for the sight of her old friend, she felt nervous. And there was Lena’s son too. Somehow that made Kara especially shy. Suddenly facing your future self didn't exactly ease the situation either.

Unlike the others, Lena didn't seem surprised about her appearance. She looked preoccupied and a little impatient.

Her future self and the boy had immediately sprinted in front of Lena to protect her from possible attacks that the intruder may have planned. Her older self eyed her suspiciously. The boy on the other hand looked rather curious.

With astonishment in his voice, he said: "Jeju?". The word sounded somehow strange, but her mind was fixated on her older self, who was rather rude and asked as if starting an interrogation: "Who are you?" Lena was friendly, although she couldn't hide the fact that the guest was very inconvenient.

The raven-haired woman stepped in front of the boy and looked at Kara jr. from head to toe: "Well, that's interesting,“ there was curiosity, but she as if she was about to get a headache. Kara knew that frown and Lena said: "Unfortunately it's also very bad timing."

Kara sr. once more, put her body in front of Lena. She was tense, trying to be polite, but also ready to defend her families at any time. They had seen everything - at least that’s what they thought at this moment - shapeshifters, impostors, holograms, or illusionists.

"Hello, um, person, who looks like me. How can we help you? And if I were you I wouldn't try to hurt my family." The boy asked: “Is that you J’ohn?”

Again Lena pushed herself in front of Kara and ignored all attempts to be protected. Kara jr. immediately wondered why Lena still had to be so reckless. “Darling, don't be ridiculous. This is a younger version of you. Otherwise, our alarm system would have reported as soon as she set foot on the way to our house. I can also feel the nervous energy that always emanated from you when we met back then.” Lena winked.

Looking at young Kara, she added, “And as intrigued as I am to learn more about why you are here, whatever it is, it has to wait. I'm sorry and I hope you understand. However, this is an important family matter, so work must wait. I know this might still be an unusual concept for you - but we have had a shift in priorities in our lives. You can come back tomorrow or you can wait here if you want. We’ll make plenty of time tomorrow to listen to your story. "

Kara - the older one - who had just relaxed a bit because what Lena had said about her protection system was correct, put her arm around Lena's waist, and added: “We don't want to be rude. Especially because the reason that you traveled through time has to be very serious. But we promised Lexi that we would be there on time. You won't know that yet, but all she knows all through her life is us being late - or not there at all. Sometimes it was L-Corp, then CatCo, aliens gone wild, or psychopathic family members. Of course one of us was always there when it was important - but never the whole family, seldom. Same as her siblings she was most of the time very understanding - but I had to swear to her three times that we would all be there today - no matter what. And we are determined to keep that vow. Whatever you are here for, I am sorry but it has to wait. "

Kara jr. tried to understand the whole scenario - the spoken words, but also the gestures, like seeing how close Lena and Kara were with each other. They had to be very good friends. Has that been the case for a long time or did it happen recently? How long had it taken Lena to forgive her the lies?

And where was the children's father? Had something bad happened to him and was that the reason why Kara was supporting her friend and her family like that? Yes, that sounded like a sad but plausible explanation.

"Oh honey, don't look so confused. We'll meet later and talk," Lena said reassuringly. “Or she could go to her sister. Aunt Alex will be happy to meet her”, the young man joined the conversation again. “Shoot, just remembered that she'll be on campus too. Everyone will be there," Liam corrected himself.

Kara, the visitor, took a deep breath. She just had realized that she had been subconsciously preoccupied with the question of how Alex would be doing. It was very good to hear that her sister was alive and somehow part of this clan. She must be if she was invited to the graduation party of Lena's daughter. At least Kara counted this as a good sign that Alex finally accepted Lena as her best friend. Another wonderful fact about her future.

A new expression settled on her future face: "Maybe we should hear what she has to say first". Kara sounded unsure. Lena looked at her with some kind of pleading in her eyes: “Darling, please don't be sensible now. Please, the ceremony starts in about an hour. "

With a determined look Lena put one foot through the front door, but immediately turned around again and exhaled heavily and muttered to herself: "Who am I kidding? Lexi, I've tried." She turned and said loudly, "it's urgent, isn't it?" The younger Kara nodded: "I'm afraid so."

"You took my time machine," Lena concluded. Kara jr. confirmed with another nod. All the thoughts that Lena had tried to suppress during the entire encounter now forced themselves to the surface of her mind. She didn't want to disappoint her daughter. But of cause, she knew that a Kara who had gone forward in time meant bad news. Very bad news, probably.

“I am very sorry that I crashed your plans, but the situation is serious. Possibly even a matter of hours, days at most,“ she added.

Lena slumped briefly, but immediately straightened up again. "I know. I know. You just have no idea how important this is for Lexi. And for us. Just being together at important events. We are seldom granted that pleasure."

Kara sr. hugged the brunette woman, combed her hair soothingly, and pressed a gentle kiss on her temple: "And we will not disappoint her, we will find a way. You're a genius, after all - and I know everything will be fine in the end.“ Lena's voice was muffled by Kara's chest."You know you shouldn't promise something like that? "

Kara jr. almost choked on the air she breathed - the two women in front of her behaved a bit like a couple, right? Perhaps in this future, best friends hugged and kissed like this all the time. Oh, that would be definitely another thing to look forward to.

"Have I ever lied to you?" Kara sr. answered. "Aside from this one big time," Kara stumbled upon her own words, cheeks flushed.

Lena frowned and looked at Kara sr. Suddenly there was a tension in the room that Kara jr. made fidgety.

Liam didn't mind the tension at all and replied: "Well, there was that time when you said there was still pizza in the fridge. Or when you promised to go flying with me." "You were four." "I was eight." "You were barely four! And you pulled me to the window screaming- you promised - when your mother was still in the room,” Kara replied. Liam shrugged, but Lena rolled her eyes.

Kara jr. cleared her throat and said, "I'm sorry to mess up your plans. Lexi, um, I mean your daughter will hopefully understand when I have explained why I am here.” Lena and her time Kara shared a meaningful look that the younger superhero couldn’t decipher.

She continued: "If I had known that today was such a special day, I would have tried to come earlier, but I can't change that anymore. And .. . " She took a deep breath: „I'm sorry to put it a bit drastically, but this life that you have now will change forever if you can't help me. My Lena, um, I mean the younger version of you, tried all she could think of – and you know she is so unbelievably brilliant and capable,“ gushed Kara, “but she said she needed support from the future. Maybe we can go inside. Then I'll tell you everything.“

Lena took a step back into the entrance hall and motioned for Kara to step inside. Kara followed the invitation. Lena led her to the living room while Kara sr. went into the kitchen and got some cold drinks and snacks. When she met Lena's warning look she said: “What? She must be hungry after traveling the time. I am just hearing about it. And I also got you your favorite- dried pineapple."

Lena took the offered fruit somewhat reluctantly. Kara jr. thanked herself inwardly for this golden train of thought. She was starving and devoured the food on offer in seconds.  


She was just about to start telling her tale when Lena interrupted her: "Sorry, but I need to message Lisa briefly that they don't need to wait for us." She put a finger on her watch and closed her eyes. A few seconds later she opened them again and nodded encouragingly to Kara. “I am all ears.”

Kara looked at her a little bewildered: "Did you just write a message with your thoughts?" "Yes," Lena took the younger Kara's hand reassuringly: "Darling, I'm sure there are many things here that are new to you. But you will deal with them. Let's talk about the past now to make this future possible, ok."

The time traveler blushed. Lena had always intimidated her with her big brains, her beauty, and her softness. Kara's intellectual abilities and her wealth of knowledge were way ahead of those of humans, but she still felt as if Lena was out of her league in every way. And past or future - she would always melt when Lena called her darling.

Kara cleared her throat and began to speak: "In my present, during the last days numerous facilities and clubs have been attacked which are mainly frequented by aliens. Thousands of people were poisoned with a hitherto unknown substance. The terrorist organization behind it has not yet identified itself but has written messages to the DEO. They are threatening to kill all aliens if I don't give myself up to them. And as I already told you, we are not able to find out what this poison is made of. That’s why Lena suggested to use her time machine and find her, I mean you or herself in the future because here she might be able to help."

Lena, Kara sr. and Liam stared at her. Liam was the first to reply: “Of course my mother will help you. It's just a pity that we don't get to listen to my sister's speech. She worked on it for ages and she is borderline funny. There was this one time ... "

Lena interrupted his torrent of words: "I swear by Rao, he got it from you Kara - Liam, thanks for the insights, but we don't want to confuse Ms. Danvers with too much information." When she turned back to young Kara, she agreed with the first part of his statement: “But he is right." She breathed out, shrugged her shoulders, and straightened her chest, ready to solve any task that was now waiting for her: "Of course we will help."

Kara jr. smiled in relief. Not that she had ever doubted receiving the support that was just promised. But knowing Lena was on board felt a bit like the problem had already been solved.

She was just starting to explain the situation in more detail when she was irritated by a loud rumbling that seemed to come from above. It had almost sounded like something had landed clumsily or hectically on one of the balconies.

A few moments later, six feet hurried down the stairs.

She heard excited voices, two of which sounded like a monosyllabic duet from an operetta: "Mom" "Jeju" "Mom" "Jeju" - in between a younger voice: "What's going on?" Then again: "Mom" "Jeju" "Is she really from the past?" Followed by a somewhat exhausted: "Mom, you promised!"

A moment later two tall young women and a girl of almost the same size were standing in the living room. One woman had shiny raven hair in a beautiful french braid and piercing blue eyes, the delicate but expressive face of the second woman was surrounded by chin-length blonde curls, she was the tallest of the three. Her irises had the same color mix of green and blue as the teenage girl. A color that Kara had only seen before on one person - her best friend. The youngest newcomer's hair was at least three shades darker than that of the first woman, also curly, like that of the blonde, but longer.

Kara was mesmerized by these beautiful young women who must be without a doubt Lena’s daughters.

Then, finally, her mind processed other important information. And that's when it finally hit her that Liam had said it too when they had met. He had called her "Jeju" and now at least one of the two women had said the Kryptonian version of the human word for "Mama", too. But this time directing it at their time Kara.

That could only mean one thing - she and Lena were not only best friends, somehow they also raised Lena's children together. That was the only reasonable explanation of why Lena's children called her mom.

Another wave of joy, but also of longing for something she couldn't name, crept into her chest and heated her cheeks. Besides, the feeling grew that she was missing something important.

Kara sr. mumbled to Lena: "Did you tell them to come?" "No darling, but I'm not surprised they did. In my message, I said that a younger version of their Jeju had managed to bring down all plans for this special day. "

The two younger women stared curiously at the visitor. The blonde said: “Jeju hasn't aged much in the last years. Her younger version looks just like her, perhaps a little more - oblivious. From when exactly is she? Sorry, I mean – from when exactly are you, Kara?"

The tall brunette was soothingly hugged by Lena: “I'm so sorry, baby. I know I promised there would be no emergencies. There are good reasons, however. I know there are always good reasons. But these are very good reasons and Kara will explain them to you in a moment. Still, I'm very sorry, baby. I will fix it. I promise."

The young woman – presumably Lexi - didn't look too angry, however. Maybe a little disappointed. But also as if she had accepted her fate a long time ago. Nevertheless, she let her mother comfort her, and visibly enjoyed the attention.

"So what's your story, Kara?" asked the blond curly-haired woman. Her smile was full of mischief. "What went wrong in the past? Did you do something stupid?" she smirked. "I am right, am I?"

"Well, no. Why would you think that?" Kara jr. pushed imaginative glasses up her nose. A nervous gesture that everyone in this room was used to because Kara hadn't lost it.

“I come from the past. Exactly 27 from the past."

Kara sr. made a pained noise and Lena escaped a quiet: "Shit. "

"What's going on?" Liam wanted to know.

"That's way in the past," said Kara sr. "Not even Lexi was born back then. We weren't ...", Lena tried to explain, Kara kind of helped: "Lena didn't know that I was, or am..." ". ..Supergirl ", finished Lena. A hint of something between hurt and sadness was flashing over Lena's face.

"Ah, before the time when you briefly hated each other," concluded the youngest girl. "And before they "talked” to each other,“ Lisa said with a knowing smile. Lexi knew what part of her mothers' story her sisters were referring to.

Past Kara couldn’t make sense of the conversation. Maybe they were talking about the reveal and how they became friends again?

The children knew the story of Kara and Lena inside and out. When they were young they kept begging their aunts in particular, but also their mothers, to tell them about it. Especially the part where their moms had hated each other was a great attraction for the offspring. They couldn’t imagine that Lena and Kara had once fought badly.

“Do you know who were are?“ Lexi asked carefully. "Yes, you are Lena's children. It's pretty obvious," Kara answered somehow proud that she already figured that out on her own."Yes, but also...," Lexi was about to say. But Lena, who suspected that their visitor had not properly classified the situation yet and thought it would be better if it stayed that way, interrupted her daughter: “I think it is best if we don't overwhelm even more. That said, let's stop talking about the present and focus on the threats in the past. Please, Kara, tell us exactly why you are here, so we can help and you can go back home soon."

Kara jr. was a little dizzy. Lena's suggestion sounded perfect to her. She swallowed and started to tell her story again and in more detail, this time without further interruptions.

************************

After Kara explained the reasons for her visit, there was a brief profound silence. However, it was soon broken by the babble of at least four voices.

Kara was impressed by how systematically the four siblings proceeded, listening to each other, adding and connecting new ideas at a breathtaking pace.

Kara Jr. was pretty excited, but not too surprised - they had Lena Luthor as their mother. And since Lena had once told her that she was more interested in creative ideas than well-built bodies, Kara guessed that the father of the four also couldn't be a fool.

Father - never before had that word produced such an aversion in her. In any case, Lexi, Lisa, Lizzy, and Liam were all pretty lovable and clever people. She was already looking forward to spending more time with them at some point in her future.

For the first time, she wondered why Lena, who invented the time machine, hadn't used it to save her children's father. Or was he just on business? But there was no evidence that a man lived in that house. In the photos on the wall were the children and Lena and Kara, some of them also showed Alex and a beautiful black woman, more children and in one picture she recognized Win, Brainy, and Nia. But no husband ...

Or did she get a divorce? But no one in their right mind would divorce Lena? Maybe Lena had been the one who wanted to split up because she finally learned that she choose the wrong partner. Growing up in such a loveless environment could lead to bad decisions even when being a genius like Lena, right?  
Maybe at some point, she saw that she deserved better and submitted the divorce papers? But then there would be a picture of him somewhere. After all, he was still the father of the children? Kara got no further here.

And then another realization almost made her forget to breathe. The young people didn't just babble in English. They jumped back and forth between two languages. One was English but the other - Kryptonian.

When Lena got into the conversation and told them to hold their breath for a second - also in Kara's mother tongue - that was the moment in which Kara lost consciousness for about thirty seconds.

"Oh," she heard herself. "We broke her", that must have been Lizzy. "She's coming back," that was Liam. „Food?" Lexi asked.

"Maybe a cookie," Kara replied a little hoarsely. Lexi went and got her five.

Kara ate one. “Um, you are all fluent in Kryptonian?"

„Of course we know everything about Krypton,” Lisa said matter-of-factly. "You've taught us everything since we were little," added Lizzy. "And we wanted to know everything about our legacy," Liam cut in.

Kara took a frantic bite of a second cookie and almost choked on it. They considered themselves Kryptonians. Because they were so close. Kara's heart grew bigger and bigger. She was touched. It was no secret that she sometimes felt very alone and like the last of her kind. Clark had grown up among humans with no connection to the culture he was born into. He hadn't shown a keen interest in changing that, either. And here were Lena and her family, giving her a feeling of belonging she had missed since she lost her home. She couldn't stop the tears that were streaming down her cheeks.

A super and five Luthors. Her family.

Kara switched to Kryptonian. A strange sense of belonging, combined with homesickness flooded her heart, grew into a lump in her throat, and made her voice sound rusty: "I am very touched that you speak my language ..." She cleared her voice and continued: "... and some of your ideas sound brilliant. I think you got that from your mama.” “No, it's all from mom, but you got the brilliant part right,“ Lisa corrected with a smug smile.

The whole time Kara sr. was watching her younger self. She could imagine what was going through her head and how she must feel.

"Are you okay? It’s a lot.“ Lena put a reassuring hand on her forearm.

The touch increased Kara's nervousness a little, but at the same time it calmed her down. "It is," replied Kara, "but I am okay. It's a good future. I'm looking forward to it."

She didn't see the smile that had fallen on Lena's face listening to her words, but she felt her fingers, which had run briefly over her skin.

"Then let's start saving yours and all of our futures," Lexi said.

„Finally! Do you have the substance with you? We should start with the analysis now if we want to find a solution in time,” said Lisa. She was known to be incredibly impatient.

"Very good," Lena agreed and got up. Kara, the time traveler, immediately missed her touch when Lena took her hand from her arm.

Lena already had switched into Do mode: "Kids, could you please prepare the laboratory, we will follow in a few minutes."

"Kara," Lena added "love" to make sure which Kara she was addressing. “Would you please prepare the other lab? I think we're going to need it now. I told you that we would one day.“ „ I always bet against it, because I hoped we wouldn’t,“ but Kara smiled proudly at her partner and turned around the corridor to the stairs that led down to the laboratories.

For the first time past Kara was alone with Lena. 

"How are you?" Lena asked.  
Kara replied with a lot of pauses between words: "I'm confused. It's all ... different. In my time, I haven't even told you that I'm Supergirl. I'm so scared of losing you and here - here you know and it turned out well. That we are still friends .... that means everything to me ... And you are a mother. It suits you. Your children are wonderful. "

"Friends," Lena escaped an indignant huff. Kara's ignorance was sweet at times, but also very annoying.

She took one of Kara's hands: "I was very angry with you - oh boy, was I angry and frustrated? I felt so betrayed like I had lost everything. You should prepare for months of cold, raw, and merciless rage from a Luthor aimed at you when your Lena finds out about it. I will hurt you so much. I'm sorry now. It won't be like that for a long time. At some point, I will be able to see and understand your side. And if I'm lucky, you'll forgive me again. But I'll feel like I don't deserve it - that I don't deserve you. And maybe you will help me get there again. And then ... well, we'll find out.“

  
„I can’t imagine a life where we aren’t friends. Our friendship means everything to me.“ 

"Before I get a headache from listening to you friend-zoning us, let's go meet the girls and Liam in the lab."

Lena got up and slowly walked to the door. Kara followed her. In silence, they walked down the long hallway and descended the stairs into the basement. Kara pondered what Lena might have meant by her last comment ... what was bad with being friends? They were friends here? Somehow it all didn't quite fit together and started to annoy her, so she decided to stop all this thinking and concentrate on her task.

Somewhere in her subconscious, Lena's words continued to work, stumbled through her brain cells, and formed new connections. Twice the part of Kara's brain that had no direct line to her consciousness came to a plausible explanation, but decided each time that it couldn't be and did not report it further.

**********

Reaching the floor of the basement Kara saw the open, heavy security door that led into the laboratory.

This laboratory was much larger than the one in Lena's apartment in the past. Despite the dark walls, it was very light and white. There were many cupboards with different colored bottles and jars and boxes, whose contents were noted on big labels - written mostly in Lena's neat handwriting. In the middle of the room was a large table with a sink, on which various machines stood. Most of them were completely unknown to Kara, she could have easily have named others.

Liam, Lexi, Lisa, and Lizzy were already in the room. Liam and Lisa sat at desks that were against the back wall and each stared at a transparent plate that looked like a monitor.

Lexi and Lizzy both wore white coats. They talked animatedly but stopped when Lena and Kara jr. stepped through the door.

As soon as they entered the room, Lexi asked, “We are very curious to see what kind of poison or virus you brought with you. Would you please give us the substance? "

"Don't you have to go back to your graduation ceremony? You're the one doing the Valedictorian, aren't you?" Kara said.

"Technically, yes, but I can't imagine being there without my family. And I want to see where this is going, and of course, I want to help. Besides, I'm pretty sure I'll get the opportunity to do that speech in front of my family, right, Dr. Who? ” Lexi addressed her mother, sounding like she was dictating the terms of a peace treaty.

„We’ll see, darling,“ Lena responded, but her posture was indicating that she would move heaven and earth to make exactly that happen. 

“Kara, if you would be so kind as to give us the substance. It would be sad if we can’t help you on time. I really would like to give this speech someday. I've been working on it forever. It's a good speech, ”Lexi said confidently.

„Of cause it is,“ Lena reassured her motherly.

Liam and Lizzy rolled their eyes. Lisa laughed, which encouraged Liam to say in a sort of reporter's voice, "Ms. Perfect wrote the best speech ever written and given in speech history.“ „There will be songs about this speech, doctoral theses will be written about it, films will be made,” Lisa added.

Now it was Lexi who rolled her eyes. But Lisa didn't stop: “Am I right, mom? You never thought your daughter would throw you off the throne of the nerds, did you? But Lexi - this will be a short reign, Lizzy is on your heels and is already reaching for the crown. "

Lexi was used to her sister's loose mouth. She countered casually: "Very mature Lazylisa and funny Superlilo." "I hate it when you call me that," Liam said sullenly. "He called himself Superlilo until he was twelve," Lisa mocked her little brother. "Four - I was four," Liam defended himself.

Kara Jr. smiled the whole time watching the teasing among the siblings. She thought of her sister and suddenly missed Alex very much

Lena stood next to the superhero. “Don't bother about them - they love each other. We tried to send them to different summer camps once. One morning when the management of Lexi's camp found everyone in one bed, even though they were in different camps hundreds of miles apart, we got into a bit of an explanation. "

Lena raised her eyebrows and looked at her children a way that Kara had just seen on Lisa’s face: "They even collected Lilo from his room in our house because they missed the little one so much." "He wasn't even four and we almost had a heart attack when we couldn't find him in the morning," commented Kara Sr., who had just joined them.  
.   
So Lena and she lived together for a long time, thought Kara, and wanted to ask how Lisa and Lizzy had managed to get to Lexi and somehow collect their little brother and take him with them. But she couldn't find the courage to ask. Something in her was sure that she wouldn't be able to handle the answer (yet).

Instead, she gave Lena the bottles with the deadly liquid. “You have to be very careful. This has already killed over 7,000 aliens. It doesn't seem dangerous to humans though."

„We will be super careful,“ Lizzy answered. „Mom is always doing the dangerous stuff, so we should be safe,“ Liam added.

„Well then. Let’s start,“ Kara sr. said.

Not being able to help made Kara nervous, and she started pacing up and down the lab shelf. Lena's office had been very impersonal - apart from that one family picture. Lena had decorated this laboratory with a few more personal memories. Or maybe that was the influence of her children - or that of Kara - which was more noticeable here in their own four walls.

A picture of the family here - and even a photo or two of only Kara and Lena. They looked very happy, especially on one where both were standing by an ocean, silhouettes against a sunset. It almost was a little romantic. Kara couldn't stop looking at it even though she tried. Which resulted in her tripping and almost tearing down one of the cupboards.

"Darling, if you want you could sit down for the moment. This won't take long. But it would be nice if the laboratory would still be up by then,“ Lena pointed to a chair on the long side of the room. There was a magazine on it and Kara began to read. It was a tattered edition of a yellow-press magazine that, according to the cover, contained an article about Lena. When she turned to the particular page it was torn out.

"Don't ask. Lisa and Lexi argued and accidentally tore up the page. Well - it was rubbish. Something about the Luthor dynasty and if they really could be good. Meh - stupid. Hey, in your time - do they still have printed magazines? They only recently started producing them again. The paper is made from a sustainable material and people just like to have something in their hand that they can leaf through, „ Liam explained.

Kara, Liam, and Lisa started a discussion about the development of the appearance of newspapers over the past 30 years, which Kara sr. latched in.

Meanwhile, apart from a few words, Lena, Lexi, and Lizzy worked in silence to uncover the secret of the substance.

"I know how it works," said Lena suddenly, her eyes glued to a large transparent screen, while her slender fingers shifted further parameters. Lena took off her glasses and looked through another machine. "It's a smart substance." She turned to Kara Jr. and put the glasses back on. “I know a way to neutralize it. But even with our modern science, it will take at least 48 hours to brew an antidote. A vaccine lasts at least three months. "

"And do you think it is even possible to take such an antiserum on a journey through time?" Lexi asked. "We're going to need living matter to make it."

"No, I don't think that would be safe. I won’t take a chance on it.“ "What do you suggest then?" Kara Jr., her body language showed her high level of tension. “We may have little or no time until something drastic happens in the past and everything will change. And I'm not there to protect you, Lena. We both know that whoever they are, these terrorists are going to hunt you down, too. They know that you are on our side and what you are capable of. And if you die in the past ... well, you know what happens then, ” Kara said worried and also a little impatient.

"Why doesn't our mom remember that you traveled into the future when she was the one who sent you?" Lexi asked suddenly. “That's an excellent question,” Lisa agreed. “And Jeju, you should remember all of that too. You should already know the solution to this problem because you've already solved it before,“ added Liam.

Kara sr. scolded herself for not thinking about all these things herself before. She'd been so busy thinking about how she'd felt 27 years ago, and whether her younger self was able to cope with all the new knowledge about her future, that this simple logic hadn't occurred to her. She was too upset to see how clueless she had been. She knew that her younger self still did not want or could not look at the whole situation. She had denied her non-platonic love for Lena for so long. It was painful to watch.

While Kara sr. once again waded deep through her thoughts, she almost missed how Kara jr. and Lena answered unisono to Liam's question with „Timeshieldstabilisator".

Lena explained her theory and the program she had developed to ensure safe time travel. "Protection cannot be guaranteed for a long period. If the force of change is too strong, time will collapse and the past will merge with this future. The same goes for great changes in the past such as death. If someone dies in the past, they are dead. Our memories adapt to the new occurrence. We forget all memories that we made after their death. Who was not conceived before one of the parents died will not be remembered, because they never existed. "

“And your mother invented a device she calls a timeshieldstabilisator that can suppress the overwriting of a timeline by time travel for a while if the visit is short. This is very likely still the future that happened without the interference of the attackers or my time travel ”, Kara junior repeated what she had learned from her Lena. "But because of that, your mother and my future self don't remember that I ever traveled into the future."

“It's like Kara was shot through time in a balloon that separates the past from the future with a thin rubber wall. Every interaction with us is like a pull on a balloon. If done too often or too hard, the surface will crack. That's just one more reason to act quickly now. And the best way to do this is for me to travel back in time with you. I'll brew the antidote and vaccine at your place. My Kara has already unpacked and prepared the updated version of the time machine. It has a lot more features than the version you came with. For example, it is now safe for me to travel with you. I have found material that dampens the influence of the pressures of time, which would otherwise be too strong for the human body to survive,” Lena announced as if this had already been decided.

"Lee, can we talk in private for a minute?" asked Kara sr.

„Love, I know what you’re about to tell me. I know it's dangerous and I'd like to plan it better, too. But you also understand that all of this - our beautiful life - is at stake.“

„Yes, but…“ Lena interrupted Kara sr. again.

„If they succeed everything we have been through, everything we fought for will be forgotten. I don’t want to forget.“ Lena started to put some ingredients on the long table.

„And besides, I want to know who the hell is behind it this time. Cadmus has been history for 15 years, Lex is dead. It could still be my mother. But I just can't imagine it. Possible - yes. Probably - no. She's old and things have changed, she has been less determined to kill me since I have the kids. I have no idea how these terrorists - as you call them - smuggled such a substance from here into the past. That’s bothering me. I have to know. I have to know what they are capable of and I have to be there to stop them.“

She looked again at Kara sr. „And that's why I have to go with Kara and that's why you, my love, have to stay with the kids and try to find out what there is to know in this timeline. And this is how we are going to stop them together - for now, and forever. We deserve peace, don’t you think? "

Kara sr. seemed to agree, but touched Lena briefly on the arm and motioned her to accompany her to the next room.

Lena had called her Kara "my love" twice. Kara shook her head to get rid of the images in which Lena would say that to her too.

Kara looked around and noticed that Lena's children had become silent. "I'll take good care of her?" Kara promised.

Liam and Lexi looked at her briefly and smiled a little pained.

Lizzy had a neutral expression on her face while Lisa quietly cursed to herself.

Kara considered which words might be appropriate and was just about to start reassuring the four when Lena and the older Kara returned.

„We could come with you,“ Lexi said. „Good thinking big sister. Yes, we totally should do that. We could protect you,“ Lisa agreed. 

"Impossible. You weren't even born back then. If you would come with me, the danger of a collapse of the space-time continuum would be almost inevitable. As I have just explained to your Jeju - me traveling alone is the only option,“ explained Lena.

„We could say that we are your interns - no one needs to know that we are who we are,” argued Lexi.

Kara sr. had to smile at it: "I'm sorry baby, but no one would believe that you are not related to your mother. And besides, you could not use your powers without raising further questions."

Powers? Kara wondered. What were they talking about?

“But mom also has her power suit. She can fly, we can fly. We are the interns of the mighty Lena Luthor from the future. That way we could explain everything,“ Lisa tried to convince her mother.

"No, I won't allow you to come with me. It's too dangerous." Lena had spoken in her harsh mother voice. "Ah, so it's suddenly too dangerous," Lexi complained. But she knew like her siblings that her mother wouldn’t change her mind. They weren't happy with the decision. Liam in particular looked disappointed, Lisa was furious.

Their Jeju was against Lena going into the past in such a rush but would have allowed Lexi and Lisa to accompany their mother because her daughters were more or less invulnerable - unlike her wife. However, she accepted Lena's decision because she could understand her motives.

That she wouldn’t go with her was decided a long time ago. When Lena had told her about the time machine and why she had invented and kept it, they had talked about what they would do if there was ever a situation in which they would have to use it. They had decided that the one whose skills were needed more for the mission would travel and the other would stay with the children.

Lena asked Lexi to give her two suitcases from the top shelf and started packing them with supplies, cans, and two smaller boxes. Then she asked Kara to carry the heavy-looking instrument into the next room. "That should be all we need," said Lena and stepped out of the room, followed by the Kara who was still in the room, and the quartet infernale.

The second lab was right next to the first. If the door wasn't open, it disappeared into the design of the wall and had no doorknob. Lena had always made sure that none of her curiosity-prone children would come across the machine by accident.

Now the door was wide open and led into a small room that was almost half-filled with the updated version of the unique vehicle. The thing still looked like a small freight container, but the material was thinner and at the same time much stronger.

Kara sr. and Lena stowed the suitcases and the large instrument in the machine.

Lena gave the older Kara a long and tight hug: "Thank you darling for preparing the machine and everything.“ Then she whispered something in her ear. Kara's brand smile couldn’t hide the worry.

Then Lena hugged each of her children, told them that she loved them, and kissed them on the temple. Even Lisa and Liam, although still visibly angry, still allowed it. Now Lena also looked a bit depressed. It was difficult for her to leave her children to embark on an adventure with an unknown outcome.

Lena asked Kara jr. to get into the machine, followed her, and looked back at her family: "I'll be right back." Addressing Kara, she said: "I love you - always,“ turned one last time to her children: "Love you, babies. Listen to your mother! Ah and no flying before sunset! "

She kissed Kara senior on the lips and waved goodbye to the children and closed the door behind her.

Shortly afterward, the journey back in time began.


	5. Chapter 5.1. Seriously

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The young Lena Luthor learns of Kara's second identity. How will she deal with this? We also find out who is behind the attacks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the many nice comments that have reached me so far. Those are really motivating.
> 
> NOTE:  
> I've decided to break up the chapters again and post shorter sections. But if you prefer to wait loo longer and then have more to read in one piece, I'll switch again.
> 
> TRIGGER WARNING:  
> At the end there is a small part that contains a homophobic and mysogynous speach. But it is short!
> 
> Take care

**_Seriously-Part one_ **

_  
back to the present - or past - depending on where you're from or in which direction you're looking_

They did not speak to each other during the trip. Lena was busy checking all the parameters. Besides, she hated to fly. Time travel was no exception. She distracted herself by checking all control instruments one after the other, time and time again.

Kara also didn't feel very comfortable sitting in that cramped vehicle again.

But one thought whitewashed any uncomfortable feeling.

Lena had kissed her. Not her, but her older self. On the lips. Maybe best friends did that in the future? But THAT had meant something in her own time. And seeing this kiss had made her think about nothing else but whether and when she would also kiss her Lena - on the mouth.

She admired her older self a little for her self-control. If Lena had kissed her, it would be the beginning of the end. She could and would certainly never stop doing it. And what would happen then? Could they be still friends if Lena knew about her feelings?

A second challenged the images of the kiss. Lena's children could fly. Could Lena be any more wonderful? She actually made sure that they all had power-suits to fly with her. Certainly not only because of her, but definitely because of her, too. That was so typical Lena. How could she not fall in love with her?

Her brain turned back to the other thing ... Lena had kissed her. She could almost feel Lena's lips on her own.

How did the older Kara survive being so close to Lena without going crazy? Had she stopped longing for Lena in this not so friendly way? It was just impossible. She would always want Lena this way. But her future self was so calm, so happy, so content. The thought of kissing Lena but not being with her - just thinking about it made her sad.

Maybe she had accepted that it was her fate to be “just” Lena's best friend. She knew she would endure anything as long as the woman stayed in her life. But how did she survive seeing Lena with someone else? There must have been a father at some point. Or maybe Lena had used a donor? And they had decided to raise the children together - like best friends.

Best friend who occasionally kissed on the lips!

A strange thought that somehow made sense. After all, it was the future. Maybe that's the way people lived in the future and found this all perfectly normal.

The thought that Lena might have used a donor instead of being with a man calmed something deep inside Kara.

Perhaps...

Kara was about to allow a little hidden hopeful thought, but then realized that she had left her super suit in the future - which meant that her Lena would see her as Kara in a moment.

And a whole load of new worries were waiting to be embraced by anxiety.

**************

Since Lena, unlike Kara, knew exactly what she was doing, this time the landing was gentle.

Nevertheless, everything in Kara was tense and she had the feeling that she could hardly breathe. Lena would soon discover her secret. Oh Rao. Because of a forgotten suit. How stupid was that!

She noticed that voices and footsteps outside of the cabin.

One of them was the familiar sound of high heels on concrete. A second later, Lena's young worried voice asked, “Supergirl. Is that you? Are you all right?"

Lena sr. lightly touched Kara's shoulder and gave her a brief, reassuring squeeze: "I've already noticed. You don't have your costume with you. One day she had to find out the truth. However my younger version reacts, don't forget that she does love you very much. Please be patient with her.“ Lena kissed Kara's cheek and opened the door

As planned they had landed on the DEO balcony. When Kara stepped outside there was still a slightly reddish blush on Kara's cheeks - a reaction to the kiss, but also a result of her nervousness.

As soon as her gaze fell on her best friend's beautiful, twenty-something-year-old face, her skin lost all color.

Lena's green eyes were focused on her and after a short while the realization settled on her features like a cold shock: “Kara?” Lena stammered in a shaky voice. Her facial expressions went through further development, the surprise and shock merged with confusion and resulted in a combination of anger, disappointment, and also defeat.

"I can explain it," was all Kara got out before Lena jr. made with a distinctive gesture of her hand unmistakable clear that Kara should save her words: “Don't say anything more. I don't want to hear your reasons. At least not now. "

Then she turned to the other time traveler: “When I saw the new model of the machine, I already suspected that reinforcement was being brought along. Welcome Lena and thank you for offering your help. As you can imagine, I have a lot of scientific questions for you. Unfortunately, we won't have much time to talk about anything other than things related to our current problem. So, if you will follow me, I'll show you the way to the laboratories.“

"Thank you, dear", Lena sr. said, and then she hugged her younger self without warning and whispered in her ear, “Let's talk later. Everything will be fine and it really isn't what it seems and feels right now. "

Then she said aloud: “Your Lena was right in assuming that in the future we will have the appropriate methods and technical aids to help you here. I brought the appropriate equipment with me to make an antidote and also to develop a kind of vaccine. However, it will take a few months before it is ready. The antidote should be ready in two days ”. Lena jr., Alex, and Brainy, who had also come out on the balcony, nodded, but their expressions remained serious.

Kara could stop to think about Lena's sad eyes for a moment and added: “But we haven't had time to find out how this substance was brought into our presence. Lena could only confirm that it was developed around the time I just visited, maybe 5 to 10 years earlier. "

Lena explained: “My wife is investigating this more closely. But I would suggest that you also form a team to research from here, or I assume that you have been doing this already. "

There was silence. A long silence.

"Stop staring at me," demanded the future Lena.

Kara and Lena said in unison, in which the blonde yelled and the brunette whispered: "Your wife?“

Both women looked genuinely shaken, but for completely different reasons.

Kara scolded herself for not having thought that Lena might not have a husband but a wife. She also wondered where she had been and why no one had mentioned her. Who was she? And why was she feeling like she might cry any minute?

Lena, on the other hand, had an inkling of whom her older me had just spoken. Which she couldn't cope with emotionally right now. So she started going through the periodic system in her head. She did that as a child when she hadn't wanted to think about her mother being swallowed by the water.

Alex looked anything but confused, rather angry. A little passive-aggressive she said to the visitor: “You are right. Our team investigates the origin of the substance and the whereabouts of the perpetrators. "

Lena sr. replied: "I forgot how much you hated me," but she didn't sound hurt or discouraged. She smiled and added, "I don't want to reveal too much about the future, but you're still my number one go-to person when I need a relaxing quarrel."

Alex did not break eye contact: "So we still know each other in the future?" "Oh yes", Lena answered and laughed lightly.

*********  
After Kara and Lena had refreshed themselves a little and had something to eat and drink, they went to the laboratories with Alex, Lena Jr., Win, and Brainy.  
Kara was full of praise for how precisely Lena had maneuvered the time machine. Lena just shrugged her shoulders and said: "Thank you, darling, but my misjudgment cost us two hours."

Now they were standing around a big 3D-screen and Alex was explaining what they had found out during the time Kara was gone. It wasn’t too much, because in their time Kara had been away less than three hours. However, some of the findings were very unsettling.

“At first we couldn't see a pattern between the locations that were attacked. But then we found out that they all have the same ventilation system, through which the poison was distributed in all the premises. So far, a total of 8,547 deaths have been reported.

The targets were: two alien hospitals, an inclusive school, three clubs heavily frequented by aliens, two restaurants belonging to the Galatian Fantastic chain, a Lecturians church, a library with books in over 4,327 non-human languages, and a television channel that specializes in news from all over the universe - spread across three continents and ten countries. "

“Do you now have an idea who is behind this? Is Cadmus a possibility?” Lena sr. wondered. "We actually thought that they retired 15 years ago - my time.“

Lena sr. thought about past times. She felt the need to warn her younger self. The time before her mother gave up had been tough. Especially at the beginning, when she had to avoid getting caught in one of your brother's death trap but trying to lure him and your mother into an ambush while being heavily pregnant with Lisa. All that had been necessary to finally get her back their Earth 38. No, it hadn’t been fun.

“So if this hypothesis is true, then the organization must have been re-established by some imitator. I really can't imagine my mother is behind it. But that doesn't mean that it couldn't be possible at all. Lex for sure is dead. We got him five years ago - well - Kara followed through on her threat after all these years and threw him into the universe.“  
Win, Kara, and Alex looked kind of appreciative.  
Lena jr.’s face was blank.

„Well, during the last hours two letters of confession have been received, "Alex informed the group. „Both claim they are Cadmus.“

"But that can't really be true," Lena affirmed.

"We're not so sure about that either - and in the end maybe it is not that important. Because what is much more inexplicable and certainly more dangerous is the fact that Lex belongs to the terrorist group," Alex continued.

„But as I already stated that is utterly impossible," Lena emphasized.

"I don't know how he did it, but we have a video that we want to show you," she brought Win into the conversation.

Alex changed some parameters on the screen and a clip started. Three priests, each wearing a symbol of a monotheistic human religion, were grouped around a large stone.

They began to sing in slow manic voices, “People on earth. You have been betrayed by your governments. They lie and hide the truth. They mock your stupidity. While you are still hanging on her lips, aliens are conquering our earth, grabbing your land, breathing your beautiful air. But God wants to help us. He knows how to stop them. He knows how to keep the seeds they planted in our soil from sprouting. Alone we are lost. But with the help of God, we might overcome this deadly danger.

But we betrayed him, we killed life that he planted in our women; we've lived in sin, men lie with men, women with women. We have questioned the divine order. We have corrupted the perfection that God has given us to cherish and defend against every calamity. Instead, women rise to men, men let themselves be emasculated to become servants to men dressed in women’s cloth. It was the devil who anchored this unbelief in their minds and led us astray. He has his minions everywhere.

Its main ally, however, is Supergirl - a flying woman who beats up people for fun, lives in sin intended to corrupt the young minds of our pure girls and boys. This atrocity must be stopped. We'll stop it. And those who follow us will be rewarded by God himself. "

“They really lack originality. Do you remember when there was this virus that spread like crazy and killed hundreds and thousands of people and who was blamed for it by types like those - of cause: aliens and homosexuals? ", commented Win.

"And women! It worked way too often," Alex muttered angrily.

"Yes, but we think that all this nonsense is only a distraction meant to lead us in the wrong direction and the person behind all this also uses it as the acquisition of faith blinded henchmen. This is much more important here," Win rushed the clip forward a little and zoomed in on the lower-left edge of the picture, which was almost completely in the shadow.

When Win said that, Kara woke up completely from her thoughts and listened again. Up to this point, one word, in particular, had been whizzing around in her head: w I f e. Somehow pinched the word painfully against her heart.

Win zoomed into the dark area. Then played with the setting of the light. And suddenly a bald person appeared on the screen. A face they all knew very well.

„Is that Lex?,“ Kara asked incredulously. “Since when does he have that scar on his face?”


	6. 5.2. Seriously (Part Two)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena jr. has a long conversation with the visitor from the future and Kara is her oblivious self

**_Seriously-Part two_ **

_  
Still present - or past - depending on where you're from or in which direction you're looking_

  
Both Lena stared at the screen. The older woman looked startled: "This is Lex the way he looked just before we ... But that’s impossible. Kara threw him into the sky with full force. He couldn't have survived that alone. He shouldn't be here. "

For the first time in well over twenty years, Lena felt lonely. She longed for a strong hug. For a second she thought about throwing herself into Kara's arms. But dropped the thought quickly. That would only confuse everyone here, including her younger herself and present Kara.

Instead, she pulled herself together and described how Lex had disappeared after Kara and she had restored the old earth system after crises and Leviathan.

For almost ten years he seemed lost. She told them about the explosion in one of the underground laboratories under the Luthor mansion. It would happen in twelve years. And how they couldn't find Lex, whose lab it had been, but a lot of blood and flesh with his DNA.

But then five years ago he suddenly was there - in the middle of their living room.  
His face cut in half by a large scar.

She described how they had decided to get rid of him once and for all, and how Kara had literally thrown him into space after much unpleasant nagging from her brother and dire threats against her family.

How could this Lex suddenly appear in a video made a few weeks ago?

Win said almost thoughtfully: “I thought he looked a little older. But also that it would be the scar. Hm… Lena, this must be shocking news for you. Scary when one's own brother rises from the dead.“

You have no idea thought Lena, who was now through this situation for the third time, and was beginning to believe that she was dealing with Lord Voldemort.

"It's very disturbing, yes," she replied.

"We'll find out how he did it and what he’s up to. And I also know that he doesn't stand a chance because we have an improved version of Lena Luthor with us. This time we will beat him.“

Win hadn't said this to please Lena. He believed every word he said. He had always been an admirer of the youngest Luthor. And he was sure that a Lena who was 27 years more experienced than the one he already knew would be invincible.

"Lena has always been brilliant," Kara intervened.

"I mean, she's a genius - and always will be." Kara didn't want to sound like she tried to appease Lena, but found Win's words somehow disrespectful to her friend.

If they were still friends. The young woman hadn't glanced at her since she'd arrived.

“Thank you for your trust, Winslow. But don't underestimate me in my late twenties. I had some of my best ideas during this time.” Lena seemed to have recovered from the shock of Lex's return and was now trying to rebuild the morale of her younger self as well.

Who, in fact, had barely listened and was struggling not to run away right now to get drenched in scotch. Which she definitely intended to do tonight.

So, she would try to kill her brother several times, who somehow always found a way back into life. Nice prospect. Besides, apparently she would spend her life with a woman, she could barely tolerate at the moment.

Lena jr. had a terrible headache.

"I know you have always been brilliant," Win beamed at her. "I just wanted to make it clear that we now have the 100% chance to beat them because we have two of these brilliant minds on our side."

"I hope these brains are ready for action," Alex said impatiently.  
A new attack can occur at any time. We should hurry to manufacture medicine.

Lena sr. easily switched into professional mode: “I agree because as refreshing as it is to see all your young faces again, I prefer my life in the future. And I also have to take care of very important things in the future. "

Alex, Win, Brainy, and Lena sr. immediately began to exchange ideas and to create a battle plan.

Kara and Lena Jr. stayed pretty quiet and rarely interfered.

After a short time, Lena gave sr. Win a USB stick that she had carried in her pocket: “Could you just load that into the system? I saved it in the correct codec for this time.“  
Then she summarized: "We will approach the situation a four target way:  
1\. We produce the antidote as quickly as possible and also the vaccine.  
2\. As soon as the antidote is ready, we supply it to all organizations known to us in which aliens organize themselves or who support aliens. I have an overview of the corresponding worldwide information centers with me.“  
Lena pressed the pointer Win had given her and several green lights lit up."These are places that Supergirl can fly to,“ after another click a few red dots flashed: „Theses are the places that need a certain political finesse to earn enough trust enough to accept our help."

Alex now took over: „At the same time we'll find out who is behind the attacks." Lena added, "As I told you, Kara is also working on this in my time.“

Alex nodded without changing a face, because she had long understood who Lena would be married to in the future, and continued speaking: "That is good news. So far we only know that Lex has a hand in it, but we have no idea where he is operating from or who is working with him. In our view, these religious fanatics are only accessories. Perhaps a possibility, more people are going to stir up the aliens, which is bad ...

"... yes, that's true," Lena interrupted her again. "And that's why we have to approach the fourth strategy: we need professional propaganda for aliens. The way this story is told by the media, all the killings, and attacks, is very important. This is the age of fake news and a lot of people will be using bits and bytes to spread their hatred, slander, and lies against aliens. They’ll try to make it look like internalised war or something. So we need to make sure our version of the truth is heard.

The antidote is ready in about 12 hours. I brought a device with me that we called an extra calculator. The operation is not entirely self-explanatory, but I invented it and can use it.  
As soon as the first batch is ready, the serum can reproduce itself. I got the idea through Jake's nanobots - you remember - but my method is flawless and better.“ Lena was very positive about what she just had said.

They discussed details and quickly agreed who would do what. The team was divided into task forces. Future Lena would be in charge of the medical part of the operation. Lena jr. would support them.

Kara would organize and handle the logistics with the help of Brainy and Nia.

Alex would lead the investigation, accompanied by Win.

Selling their story to the media had been placed in the hands of James. To be on the safe side, Kara had asked Cat to help them, too. She had immediately promised to do whatever was in her power.

**************  
Both Lenas made themselves useful in the laboratory.

While Lena jr. put together some of the necessary ingredients, Lena sr. did the same with the technical instruments.  
Both concentrated on their tasks.

Lena sr. had already explained the most important mechanics of the process to them during the team meeting, after which the Lenas, in particular, had exchanged some ideas and worked out an even more perfect solution.

It had been one of the best brainstorming sessions they'd ever had. Working with yourself had its advantages.

The basis was a viral vector type approach based on years of research by future Lena. Traditional vaccines are made with a weakened or inactivated form of the germ that causes infection to stimulate an immune response. These vaccines are not easy to develop or quick to manufacture. Lena had developed technology that would speed up the process by using a harmless virus as a kind of Trojan horse to transport a pathogen's genetic material into cells and generate an immune response.

The approach had another advantage over other candidates: The vaccine only needed to be kept chilled rather than frozen, making it easier to distribute worldwide.

The antidote was based on the vaccine approach but did not have the ability to immunize the body against the poison in the long term.

Without using many words, they worked side by side.  
They had been very focused most of the time, but after hours of work, they both started looking at the other from time to time.

When the toughest parts were done, Lena's mind wandered back to Kara and Supergirl. Kara being Supergirl. Kara never telling her that she was Supergirl.

Why?

Before Lena met Kara, she had never felt such trust in another person. She had felt so safe with Kara. That made the whole situation so particularly bad.

It felt like someone had burned solid wood and then jumped on it until there was nothing left but a pile of dust that a gentle breeze just blew away. You could almost have thought that there had had never been anything solid there in the first place.

But a black burned stain reminded of it, like a reminder. A memorial of her stupidity to ever trust anyone at all. It had never turned out well for her in the past.

After a while, her future self turned to her: “You have a unique opportunity to speak to someone who knows exactly how you are feeling right now. Almost exactly. I learned the truth about Kara a month after you did. Take the chance! "

As if she had been waiting for a cue, Lena jr. answered. immediately: "How did she tell you?"

"Oh, she didn't. Lex told me. And it wasn't a nice thoughtful conversation - as you can imagine. He wanted to hurt me, destroy all my faith, all my love. And he almost succeeded."

"Lex?" After a pause, the young woman continued in a low voice, "How did you ever recover from this? To find out from Lex would ... "

“I was devastated, depressed, broken. I felt betrayed like I had lost everything. I was convinced that all of our friendship had been a lie. I felt pathetic ever to have loved her.“

Lena sr. looked Lena jr. directly in the eyes, she held onto the table with her hands. It was still not easy for her to think about that time.

"I didn’t talk to anyone about it. I kept my feelings to myself, which made it so much worse. My advice, don't do that. Tell someone how and what you are feeling. Maggie, Win - you can trust them - or a doctor… You can start by telling me. I am you. You don't have to hide from me. I know you inside out anyway. "

Both Lenas were very aware that this situation was unique. Lena would not have opened up to anyone else now. But her younger soul had seen that her future self had forgiven Kara. That was a huge difference from the situation the original Lena had faced. A changed situation that actually made a huge difference.

Seeing Lena sr. and Kara act so naturally with each other had kept Lena from losing all her hope. She had the ultimate proof that eventually she would forgive and that not all of her worst fears were true. That Kara hadn't just taken advantage of her, that their friendship indeed hadn’t been a scam to hurt or spy on her. Seeing Lena sr. comfortable with Kara was exactly what had stopped her from just running away. Which in turn had the positive consequence of not being alone with her darkest thoughts.

But that didn't mean she was okay with it.

And how was she supposed to express the tremendous feelings that were there anyway? She had never learned to do that. In search of words her hands began to speak, her fingers folded and unfolded, bent, touched her palms, brushed her knuckles. She looked up in her aged reflection.

In a husky voice, she said: “I feel so ... so empty and full at the same time. Tired, lost, but also very angry with her…

..you know that I don't trust easily. And I didn't even want to be her friend.  
But she did not give up. And how could I resist? It was so easy to give in.

…and you know I gave her everything I have to offer. Well, almost…“ A light blush appeared on her cheek. But she ignored it: „I asked her so badly not to hurt me…

She could have just told me. Yes, there were times when supergirl and I didn't like each other very much. But we would have found a way to deal with it…

I understand why she didn't tell me right away. But three years? Not only did she not tell me her secret, but she also didn't trust us to find a way to deal with it. I feel panic because ...

.... because I want to love, because yes, I want to trust.

... I liked the feeling. Giving and receiving trust.

But then I find out it was one-sided. She didn’t tell me her secret. A secret that everyone knows in their life except me.“  
Lena’s anger became more visible and audible.

„I am her best fucking friend.

At least that's what she said, and that's how it felt. So it should have been me who she confided in. Me who knew everything about her. Me - not the others.“ Lena's voice was trembling.

„I thought this time I would be seen for who I am. With her, I felt more like myself than ever before. A version of me that I liked. I would have done anything for her. I would have protected her with my body, my money, my brain. We could have worked together. As a team. "

Lena took a deep breath.  
“I thought she was my person. The one I could come to …“ Lena hesitated, but then found the courage and said what she really thought: "The one I could come home to. The person who ... "

"... would love you. But she does, Lena! And you will find out that it’s the truth. The only one that matters. Yes, she didn't tell you that she was Supergirl. But she wanted to do it so often. There were reasons she hasn't done it. As selfish some may be, they are valid, too. She loves you and she trusts you. I don't want to mess with this timeline any more than I've already done, so I'm not going to tell you more about it except this: if you give her a second chance, you will get more than you can imagine right now.“

Lena sr. wiped a tear from little Luthor's cheek and smiled at her: “Now give me the sodium. First, we have to save the world.“

********

Kara and Alex were in the break room. The younger sister spoke lively to her sibling: "I know that she hates me now - and it's killing me. But she'll forgive me at some point. I know because Lena and Kara will be best friends in the future. Lena has four children and they call Kara Jeju because she lives with them. And Lena even invented suits for them so that they can fly with me. "

Alex was making a sandwich and briefly interrupted what she was doing: "You live with them, they call you mom and they can fly." She paused dramatically.

"And where is Lena's wife?"  
This question dimmed the light in Kara's eyes considerably: "I didn't get to know her."  
“But you are sure that there is a wife? "  
"She just said it."

"And do you know anything about the donor?"

"Of course not. Who would ask a question like that? I don't think he plays a bigger role in the children's lives either. It's not like she's a Kryptonian. We had birth matrices and it wasn't unusual that two women or two men became parents. ...... Alex, why are you looking at me like that? Alex? What happened?

"You stupid, clueless alien," said Alex. "Or don't you want to see it? Is that it? Too much for your little Kryptonian heart?"

"What do you mean by Alex?"

"What she wants to say, but it's too decent to do because she knows you have to figure it out for yourself, is that you avoid to see the obvious," Win said. He had overheard all of their conversations.

“I agree and, by the way, congratulations. Bagging Lena Luthor. Little Danvers - you’ve got game,” added Maggie, who was part of the investigation team and who had also come into the break room.

„You have game? What do you mean? Please use proper words? "

"You will find out in your won time," Maggie told her.

Lena jr. entered the room and grabbed a cup and some water. The others fell silent and she didn't say anything either and began to brew tea.

Kara looked at her friend, but Lena ignored her. It was the first time they met again after the reveal.

Kara stepped up next to Lena and played with the tea bags that were left in the box.

"I'm so sorry," Kara whispered.

Lena didn't respond, but the tiny muscles around her eyes twitched.

"I've wanted to tell you many times," Kara began again.

Still no reaction from Lena.

„I know you probably hate me now. If you think I didn't trust you, please know that I do. Almost from the start. Once you're ready to listen, I'll explain everything to you. Although I can't explain it very well. It's ... „ Kara had spoken with her hands, but they stopped, also lost in words. “I ... I'm so sorry, Lena."

"I believe you," said Lena in a very low voice. "But I can't just forgive you like that. And if there wasn't a future version of me that assured me you trust me, I probably wouldn't believe it. But I need time."

"I'll be here and wait for you.“

Lena looked at Kara for a moment and then left the room.

************************  
After the break, everyone continued to work in their teams.

Kara tried to concentrate on planning the distribution, but there was chaos in her head.

"Hey, are you okay? I know it's a lot. The situation with Cadmus, time travel, and the thing with Lena.“ Win added the last part of the sentence in a low and quick voice.

"Yes," Kara said simply. "Am I a bad alien because I didn't think much about all the others who were killed, but about my own ... things. Especially about when Lena will forgive me and also about her wife and children? "

"I don't think that makes you a bad person. I only really know you as somebody that always puts the needs of others before her own. I think you have absolutely the right to think about yourself. And this thing between Lena and you is really important to you. I think you have the right to take your time to think about what it all means. "

They sat in silence for a few minutes  
Kara took a deep breath.  
"How does it feel to have children with Lena?"

"I'll raise her with her," somehow it was important to Kara to make the difference clear.

Win did not point out that Kara still avoided seeing the obvious: "But the situation remains of having children with your best friend. You live with them. The children call you mom."

“They actually call me Jeju - they speak Kryptonian. They all do it - even Lena,” Kara said, releasing all the air from her lungs and taking a deep breath. "And it feels good, Win, it feels ... it's all to me. And I don't understand it. But I want it. And although I know that future Lena found out about my secret in worse ways than my Lena, I'm still so scared that she will never really forgive me."

Win put an arm around Kara, which melted into his embrace: “But she will be Kara. Everything will be fine."

Again it sat in silence for a while.

“They are so beautiful and look so much like her. Lexi has her hair, but my - I mean blue eyes. And Lisa is blonde, but her eyes and jaw are just like Lena's. Lizzy, she's almost an exact copy of hers, but with lighter hair, and Liam - well, his chin is Lena's, but it's a bit like Lex too. Maybe it's the red hair. And I know it's impossible, but he also reminds me of Clark, isn't that strange? "

"Is it?" And somehow these words or the way Win had pronounced them flipped the switch and Kara couldn't hold back all the other thoughts anymore.

Tears ran down her eyes: “They could be mine too, right? That's what you were trying to tell me all along, right? „ She looked at Win, who just returned that boyish smile.  
  
Kara cried more and held onto Win's hand. He feared that it might break soon, but it didn't.

A few minutes later, Kara stood up, straightened her posture, and said, “We are going to catch the bad guys. Nobody messes with my future family ... em - and my fellow aliens! "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter. If so, I appreciate kudos and comments. Suggestions are always welcome.


	7. 5.3. Seriously (Part Three)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our heroines travel to the source of evil, and that's where the really exciting part of this story begins

**_Seriously-Part three_ **

_  
Still the present and at the DEO_

  
After the break, everyone continued to work in their teams.

Kara tried to concentrate on planning the distribution, but a lot was going on in her head.

"Hey, are you okay? I guess all of this isn’t easy. The situation with Cadmus, time travel, and the thing with Lena.“ Win added the last part of the sentence in a low and quick voice.

"Yes." Kara simply said.

“Interested in sitting down a bit. Maybe I brought a treat with me?“ Win teased his friend.

„That sounds like a very good idea,“ Kara beamed at him. But the stress was still visibly in her eyes.

They went to the balcony and sat down in the sun. 

"Am I a bad alien not thinking too much about all the others who were killed, but about my own ... things. Like if she’s going to forgive me one day. And also ehm, That she had got a wife and children?“

"I don't think that makes you a bad person. You dedicated your life to protect the people of this city. And this thing between Lena and you is really important to you. I think you have the right to take your time to think about what it all means."

They sat in silence for a few minutes.  
Kara took a deep breath.

Win asked: "How does it feel to have children with Lena?"

"I'll raise her with her," somehow it was important to Kara to point out the difference.

"But the situation remains of having children with your best friend. You live with them. The children call you mom." 

“They actually call me Jeju - they speak Kryptonian. They all do it - even Lena,” Kara said, releasing all the air from her lungs and taking a deep breath.

"It’s so confusing. But it feels good, Win, it feels ... it's... I don't understand it. But I want it. And although I know that the other Lena found out about my secret in worse ways than - well the Lena we know - and she’s still friends with Kara, I'm so scared that our Lena will never really forgive me."

Win put an arm around Kara, which melted into his embrace: “But she will Kara. Everything will be fine. You have proof."

Again it sat in silence for a while.

“I don‘t. This whole situation here might change everything. Maybe she‘ll hate me forever.“

“Maybe, but it‘s not very likely. You said it yourself- the other Lena found out about you a worse way and still decided to share her life with you.“

These words produced a wave of something inside Kara’s chest. The faces of Lena’s children came into her mind.

She said: “They are so beautiful and look so much like her. Lexi has her hair, but my - I mean blue eyes. And Lisa is blonde, but her eyes and jaw are just like Lena's. Lizzy, she's almost an exact copy of her, but with lighter hair, and Liam - well, his chin is Lena's, but it's a bit like Lex too. And I know it's impossible, but he also reminds me of Clark, isn't that strange? "

"Is it?" Win replied.

And somehow these words or the way Win had pronounced them flipped the switch and Kara couldn't hold back all the other thoughts anymore.

Tears ran down her eyes: “They could be mine too, right? That's what you were trying to tell me all along, right?“ She looked at Win, who just smiled at her and took her hand.  
  
Kara cried more and held onto Win's hand. He feared that it might break soon, but it didn't.

A part of Kara had known since she saw that picture on Lena‘s desk. But it was too much for her then and it was overwhelming now. What Kara understood was that there was a chance Lena indeed would become her family. And this thought made her incredibly happy. Without a doubt. 

A few minutes later, Kara stood up, straightened her posture, and said:

“We can’t sit around any longer doing nothing. Let’s get these bast... bad guys. Nobody messes with my family!“

*********

Instead of catching bad guys - a few hours later, Kara was flying across the world supplying extraterrestrial communities with the antidote the Lenas had made. It would not be usable for 36 hours but would then save an infected alien if injected up to 30 minutes after the attack.

Several countries and even some US states had refused to cooperate. Most of them claimed that all of this talk about Cadmus and their attempts to kill all aliens was simply lies to bring the aliens to power. In some cases, the DEO found other ways to deliver the medicine directly to the alien communities.

In the meantime, the team tasked with finding out where the attacks were planned from had found evidence that the hiding place might be in northern Iceland.

Some traces even led to the conclusion that it was one of the attackers' headquarters or headquarters.

After Supergirl finished the deliveries, the team got back together and talked about the next steps.

They agreed to explore the suspicious area in Iceland more closely.

However, they also decided to give everyone a break.

Kara was so exhausted that she immediately fell asleep on the cot in the DEO, completely overwhelmed by the last few hours.  
When she woke up after a few hours she felt significantly more rested and hungry. It took three family pizzas to feed her.

The team was already packing while she ate the last slide. The cheese was dripping down her chin. In a seemingly routine gesture, Lena sr. wiped the grease from her skin with a fresh tissue that she had taken out of her handbag.

A gesture neither Alex nor Lena's younger self escaped.

Lena sr. had insisted on accompanying the team, to make sure Kara would return home safe and sound. It was important to her personal future, she had argued.

Lena jr. agreed, only to make the same request. Her reasoning, however, was rather to emphasize that she was almost obliged to do her part in the mission since her brother was behind it all.

Kara had almost mentioned the children to silence both Lenas, but remembered just in time that her Lena knew nothing about the children or their future together.

Kara was sure that this information would be too much for the woman now.

Both Lenas won the argument.

***********

Kara flew alone, Alex with her team, while Lena sr. and Lena jr. sat next to each other in another very small and usually very fast airplane.

They had decided to use these planes because no known radar system could detect them.

They didn’t talk for quite a while.

"You, um, me", Lena jr. cleared her throat, "we don't like flying in the future either?"  
"Still hate it," Lena sr. confirmed the observation of her younger self. "I still don't feel safe. The only exceptions are her arms. But I'll never admit it in front of her," Lena smiled briefly now.

"You let Kara fly you?" The younger Lena couldn't hide her surprise.

"Occasionally I do that. Sometimes it is the easiest way to get rid of all responsibilities for a short period of time - we are flying somewhere where we are neither CEO nor Supergirl or even Mo ..." Lena sr. was suddenly very aware that her younger self knew nothing about her future, except that she and Kara had improved their relationship after the big rift.

She continued, "... fulfilling MOre social roles. Not that I don't love my jobs. It's just that sometimes I just want to relax with my - my best friend on an empty beach."

„Do you still love her?“ Lena jr. asked bluntly.

Lena sr. looked at her: "More than my life and I love my life since she shares a large part of it with me."  
They looked at each other, then Lena jr. looked down at her hands: "Does she return our love?" and Lena sr. took the younger woman's right hand in her left.

“Sometimes I am still overwhelmed because she does. She always has and she shows me every day. Kara has helped me to accept and enjoy myself and my life more than I ever thought possible. But I'm not telling you any more, because you and Kara have to find this out for yourself. Don't mess it up! I love my life the way it is now! So please no major changes."

The pressure on Lena's jr. wrist grew. The plane was about to land and the pilot seemed motivated to kill them on their way down. Or they just hated to fly.

**************  
Somewhere in Iceland.

The area was crisscrossed with dark brown, gnarled wood that peered through the icy ground, which was covered in fresh snowflakes. The air was clean, but also cold. As a Kryptonian, Kara couldn't feel the low temperature. But she knew what the cold looked like.

She was the first to reach the area and began to look around carefully and cautiously. She couldn't see any cameras or any surveillance or defense mechanism or a beating heart but her own.

After exploring the area for a while, two of the three planes arrived and landed almost completely silent - even to the hero's ears.

Kara knew the plane with the Lenas wouldn't arrive for about thirty minutes. Kara had asked the pilot to delay their arrival so she would have time to at least clear the area a bit,

When their plane finally hit the ground, both Lenas took a deep breath.

After that, however, they didn't take any time to relax their nerves. Instead, they immediately opened their laptops and connected them to the network of the DEA, getting access to all the data available. Various sensors were attached to the aircraft with which the area was thoroughly scanned and evaluated using all kinds of science. And because it have been the Luthor women they also had brought some special devices they had invented themselves.

They were both angry at Kara because they both suspected that Kara was responsible for the fact that they had only just arrived.

Neither the DEO team nor Kara could be seen or heard. From where they were they could only see one of the other pilots in the cockpit of the neighboring aircraft through the window.

They stared at the screens again and watched as their computers processed a large amount of data when they were suddenly startled by several explosions. An unnatural silence followed.

Lena jr. picked up her laptop and hurried to the exit of the plane. The other Lena followed her immediately.

They heard another explosion, but the area looked unchanged. Then - a few seconds later - Kara flew towards then, her face pale, blood on her lips, hands, and suit. She screamed and looked at the younger of the two women in a panic: “Are you okay? Are you both ok? I thought they killed you. You …“, she stuttered. “... you were dead. I saw your body. "

And then she hugged her Lena. She allowed it, but didn't return the gesture.

“Are you okay, darling? What happened, we heard explosions,“ Lena sr. asked, her voice full of concern. She had placed a reassuring hand on Kara's shoulder. Lena jr. looked confused and undecided: "We had a really terrible flight."

Kara jerked back as if she had suddenly realized that she had crossed a line. Lena's comment irritated her briefly before she was seized again by the uncontrollable need to hold Lena in her arms, press her nose against the warm skin of her friend and listen to her heartbeat, even if was irregular and far too fast.

The older Lena took one of her hands and squeezed it, which calmed Kara a little.

"It's awful in there. It's a trap. Alex is in there," Kara said breathlessly.

“But I had to make sure you were okay. Because, because …“ Kara had started crying again. "I don't know how it works. It's like a reversed version of the black mercy. All my fears, all my fears, they became kind if real, I saw, I saw you die and Alex, and everyone else, and I saw my mother - she, she ... we have to do something."

„ What happened,“ Lena sr. asked.

“The area seemed deserted. We wanted to be sure and ... I found a tunnel and ... and Alex and her team followed me. How could I be so stupid! "

While she was speaking, Lena sr. had started to type incredibly quickly on the keys of her computer. She whispered to her younger self, “This is not the time to break. Please pull yourself together.“ Louder, she said, "I think they are using purple filtered VY rays. It is a new type of mental disorder treatment that was developed some time ago - that is, in my time - I mean, it is also a technique from the future that is particularly aimed to heal phobia and other types of fear. In my time, people use it to overcome their fear, some also to become fearless. Or because they like the thrill.“

She kept typing for a while and Lena jr. had also started working on her laptop again.

"I think the portal to the future has to be here somewhere?" mumbled the present Lena.

"I have to go back to Alex," said Kara. “No,” Lena sr. ordered. “We need a plan first. You only lose your strength and risk your mental capacities. Wait. We help you! "

Kara nodded. „You have five minutes.“

"Look," said the younger brunette. “If you send the ground and air data through a cis filter, a strong gravity field becomes visible here - you see. And this one looks like a construction, or at least walls - I would say a hidden building. Under the earth. And the gravity field is right in the middle. "

„That means we have to eliminate or switch off these rays first. They seem to be broadcast from here,“ Lena sr. pointed to another area of the screen consisting of dots, numbers and formulas."The most important thing is that when we go in there that we won’t get exposed to the rays for more than some moments. Otherwise the effect will be too strong. Kara won't be able to resist them a second time either. Once we have destroyed the source of the rays, all affected persons will in turn be at least freed from the acute torture they are currently suffering from. Some might even be strong enough to recover in a few hours. However, I don't think they'll be able to join us in search of the gravitational source. „

Lena jr. nodded in agreement."Okay, we'll turn off the rays, blow up the force field and then I'll return to my family.“ Lena sr. seemed content with her plan.

“You're not going anywhere near this tunnel. It's not safe,“ Kara demanded.

“And how are you going to solve this? We are your only option. So stop. We're just wasting time,“ Lena sr. replied equally firmly.

Kara didn’t looked appeased, but said nothing. 

“Stop sulking. Think of your sister We have much more important things to do,“ said Lena sr.

“So we have to go in there. Together,“ Lena jr. sounded hesistant. "Yes. And we have to hurry. These rays can cause severe brain damage," added Lena sr.

"It's not safe," repeated Kara. This was her worst nightmare. Torn between the urge to protect her sister and her best friend - the woman she loved. It was difficult to get a coherent thought as all her thinking was dominated by the urgency to protect.  
„I'm sorry darling, but you have no veto right. We go together. And we've seen so many bad things that we can cope with a few seconds of nightmare illusions. We have to close this portal. Maybe we will be already too late and the terrorists have already fled,” explained Lena sr.

“And when my brother is behind all of this, I want to be there and destroy him. I'm more than sick of him interfering in my life all the time! ... and that he kills people,“ Lena sr. added.

Lena sr. packed up her computer and tucked it under her arm.

"You are weakened and this time you will not be able to withstand the rays for more than a few seconds. So you have to be incredibly fast to destroy the transmitter. Otherwise we will all be trapped in illusions," said Lena sr.

"Or I'll finally wake up," whispered Lena Jr. while starring at her computer screen.

And then she saw it. Suddenly the data made sense and she could see a pattern. "The transmitter is here." She pointed to a point on the screen. „Not far from the tunnel. Do you see here ... "

The other Lena and Kara now also looked at the small screen.

Both Lenas pointed to the same area. "I think I can also see it," said the superhero, blinking her eyes. (She had no idea, what the women were talking about,)

"I'll just fly right into the source and destroy it," Supergirl explained.

"Yes", Lena sr. came up to her, ready to be lifted.

Lena jr. couldn't bring herself to approach the blonde woman who was looking at her with uneasy eyes.

"Come over now," said the older Lena impatiently and Lena jr. took a somewhat jerky step towards Kara.

Supergirl took them both in one of their arms.  
The body of the younger Lena resisted the touch and stiffened, the older woman snuggled very relaxed against the suit of the superheroine.

And then she rose into the air, headed for the tunnel and with it into another chapter of their moving fate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, commenting and for the kudos. Every single one makes my day.


	8. 5.3. Seriously (Part Four)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena meets someone again she could have done without all her life.
> 
> ATTENTION: TRIGGER WARNING hurtful and cruel language

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I am happy to receive suggestions, comments and kudos.
> 
> But above all, have fun reading this.

When Kara reached the entrance of the tunnel, she took a moment to collect herself and to concentrate on the short way to the transmitter. And to think about where she would place the Lenas so that while she was destroying the device nothing would happen to them.

She imagined every step in her head, took a deep breath, and took her fragile cargo into the tunnel that led to an underground vault.

She flew so fast that both Lenas got a little dizzy. They did not even notice that on the way some members of the special unit were lying on the floor - fear and terror running through their faces.

But Kara noticed them and felt terrible. Some screamed, others cried, and she also saw a man who kept banging his head against a wall. Blood was dripping down his cheeks from his temple.  
Now that she knew what to look for, the emitter was easy to see. It hung in the upper right corner of the second room - if you entered the underground system from the tunnel.

Carefully she set both Lenas down in one of the two side corridors and then flew with a full force directly into the pulsating device. Her attack wasn't particularly elegant, but it was effective.

Both Lenas and Kara immediately felt the absence of the torture instrument.

Two of the agents had stopped whimpering and blinking their eyes. You could tell that they were still a long way from being completely back to themselves. The condition of the other three people dressed in black had not changed noticeably. Perhaps their features had relaxed un peut.

Kara didn't really notice them, but went to look for her sister and found her a few seconds later. Alex was sitting on the floor in the next room, her back pressed against the wall, rubbing her eyes. She looked devastated. When she recognized Kara, she immediately started to cry.

Kara put her in her arms and hugged her tightly. Kara kept emphasizing that everything was fine, that she was fine, and that what Alex had seen had just been a bad dream. None of this was true. Whatever she had seen was be a lie. Alex's whole body shook and it took quite a while for her body to stop shivering.

Finally, Alex let go of her and told her in a hoarse voice to do her job and catch the bastard once and for all!

Alex had tried to get up to help but soon had to accept that she couldn't move or stand up at the moment.  
It was hard for Kara to leave her sister behind. She put her cloak around her so that she could at least warm up a little and hurried back to the Lenas.

Lena the younger was going from person to person trying to help.

The older woman was still sitting where Kara had put her, the laptop on her knees. “A gravitational field the size of a portal should create a sub-sound. Kara, if you concentrate on very low sound waves you should be able to trace something,“ said future Lena in an ultra-concentrated voice as she typed wildly on her computer.

Lena jr. had realized that she could not do anything for the agents at the moment, and therefore began to explore the narrow but wide room: “From here you can only go into this small room where your sister is sitting or back to the tunnel. There has to be another door or something. As I know Lex, there's a hidden entrance somewhere.” She walked along the walls and touched them with her fingertips.

"Please be careful, Lena," said Kara, looking indecisive about what to do next herself.

"Instead of giving unwanted advice, you could come here and help," Lena replied.

Kara's forehead was furrowed, but she walked up to Lena and began looking for something that she wasn't convinced was there.

She also tried to concentrate on the sound Lena sr. had spoken of, but couldn't hear a deep noise or anything like that. Water ran through pipes somewhere, but that was a rather gurgling noise. It was - apart from the occasional groan of the injured agent and the typing on Lena's keyboard - surprisingly quiet.

Lena swore with a hiss. She had injured her fingertip on the rough wall. Kara turned and watched her, without Lena noticing.

The woman was determined on her hunt, with her serious look and a small wrinkle over her nose. She was very thorough in her investigation of the site.

Her pale skin contrasted brightly with the darkness of the room and even here and now Kara was fascinated by the woman's beauty. How could someone be so perfect? So determined and elegant, graceful, and delicate.

Lost in thought, Kara tripped over something on the floor. The loud noise startled both Lenas.

"Did you break something? The statics of this place is in critical condition. We have to be careful - otherwise, the ceiling will come down and collapse above our heads,“ warned the younger Lena sternly and thought - just like my trust in you. Although she felt that her anger originated more from her fear and the situation than from her disappointment with Kara.

"I'm careful," Kara replied, bumping her foot on something hard. And with this her answer was accompanied by a loud creak, followed by three quiet clicks and then the wall that was directly behind Lena sr. opened.

In a microsecond, Kara stood next to Lena sr., ready to protect her. But there was no one behind the door, just a narrow, probably quite long, corridor lit by blue LED lights on the floor. A trail of blue light led gently into the darkness.

"Sometimes you’re just lucky," said Lena sr. sarcastic.

"Don't you think it's all too easy?" answered Lena jr. seriously

"Yes of course. But sometimes chance works for you, but I don't trust this,“ agreed the future Lena.

“I'm glad we're on the same page. Walking headless into a death trap would be more than stupid. Kara ... Kara what are you doing? Oh damn it.“ Lena jr. cursed and looked after the blonde superhero who just had disappeared into the corridor.

"I can hear the sound,“ Kara informed them.

She heard a quiet laugh in her won voice that made her angry at her future self. Her mouth escaped a noise that resembled a growl.

Unimpressed by all this, Lena sr. decided to follow the woman in the super suit. Soon confident steps in high heels accompanied the sound of boots stuck on concrete.

"Wonderful. I'm getting to know the older me, but instead of getting helpful advice, she's the captain of another suicide mission. Lucky me,“ Lena jr. muttered to herself.

The only thing that calmed her down a bit was the tiny pistol pressed against her right thigh.

She decided to take off her high heels. A short amount of time later she held a pair of very expensive Louboutins in her left hand while she felt the outlines of her pistol with her right. Resigned to fate, but not completely defenseless, she sneaked after the other two women. Silently and hidden in the dark.

  
This reminded her of all the times she had been so determined to protect Kara. But it had always been the other way around. Kara had protected her without her knowing it.

Knowing this didn't feel a tiny bit nice right now. It rather embarrassed her and sent another wave of anger through her body. How could she have been so blind?

These thoughts did not prevent her from going further.

She was startled when she heard a strange noise. A low rumble that seemed to be rolling towards her from the far end of the corridor.

Future Lena and Kara had already arrived at the end of the corridor is a room or rather in a cave. However, this space was not formed by the force of nature, but clearly the product of human architecture.

However, the thing in the middle of this place was not of this earth.

It looked like a gigantic vibrating black sun, crisscrossed with gray stripes of energy that pulsed in straight lines on the surface. A deep humming sound filled the room as if millions of bees had formed a huge orchestra and were tuning their instruments.

This had to be the portal, everyone thought. A black nothing with silver veins that twisted into one another in a creepy dance. Somehow attractive and at the same time repulsive.

And then Lena jr. heard the other noise. From the far corner of the cave. It was a very high pitched laugh or giggle. It didn't sound healthy, rather crazy, a little monstrous. In any case dangerous. Her whole body was immediately covered in cold goosebumps.

Lena sr. had noticed it too. But instead of hiding deeper into the darkness as her younger self had just done, she straightened her shoulders, held her head up, and took up space with every cell in her body. She showed no signs of fear or panic - rather radiated calm, superiority, and coldness.

“You know you have no chance of winning. So stop this nonsense,” Lena sr. ordered.

A voice like the bad wolf who had eaten chalk to appear harmless but sounded mostly creepy said, “Mymymy this is a way of greeting your dear old brother. Have you forgotten everything we taught you? But what can you expect from a bastard? Mother always knew you didn't have a class. I really tried to give your tainted blood a chance. To change, to prepare. Hi hi hi. How stupid of me. How could I ever believe that I could turn scum into gold? But that's up to me. For once I failed. This one time. But I've already fixed that, hihihi. "

The three women wondered what he meant by that. A sense of boundless cruelty filled the air.

"You, I shouldn't be disappointed in you because you're not a real Luthor. But unfortunately, I am. I am, little sister."

There was that ugly giggle again.

"Because we allowed you to use the Luthor name, to remove the shame of your conception. In gratitude for that, you betrayed the name Luthor in the most improper way, didn't you, sister?  
I know, I know - of her. How could you do that Fornication with a monster? I was hoping that at least you would stop being her whore. But nononono, little Lena had to give herself completely. Mixing pure Luthor genes with unworthy alien bacteria. How could you?  
Well well - now you are here. And everything will be fine. I will fix it.“ He took a short dramatic pause.

Lena sr. stared into the darkness. She listened in disbelief to what her brother or what had become of him just said. Her face remained unchanged hard and emotionless.

Kara looked at Lena and tried to find out whether the fine muscle movements around her eyes contained a hidden code with which Lena was trying to tell her about the next step.

"Haven't you found out yet why you are here - genius, hahaha - sister, you've always been so much dumber than everyone gave you credit for. But I'm here to teach you a lesson. Hihihi - a lesson you should have learned by now. But I will still teach you and this time you will understand. I will make sure that you understand. " He sounded a bit like a crazy but very optimistic teacher. "I'll fix all your mistakes." Lex started giggling again.

He was still nowhere to be seen. Only his voice echoed off the walls of the cave.

“Justice is on my side. It brought you to me, hihihi. Ever since I was aware of the fact that you found a way to travel back in time, I was certain that the universe would reunite us, that it was asking me to rid it of you and the dirt you gave birth to,” Lex said full of unconcealed arrogance.

And then he stepped out of the shadows into the shimmering lights of the time portal.

He was marked by a deep red scar across his face.

“Kara, you know my brother Lex. This is the one from the future, as you may have noticed. He almost killed himself but only managed to cut himself into pieces. I admit I am impressed by his resilience. Unfortunately, this brother is a never-ending nightmare.“

Lena seemed calm, but Kara could see the tension in Lena's facial muscles and hands. She felt a wave of tremendous anger at Lena's brother. Slowly she understood what it meant to hate someone profoundly.

And although he was obviously crazy and far from being a mastermind of evil, the devilish part, in particular, seemed to be still intact. This Lex was perhaps even more dangerous than the one she'd met before.

Lex continued his monologue, ignoring the words of his sister.

“Thanks to truly fateful circumstances, I got another chance to do my job. And this time I won't make any mistakes. I will destroy all the trash that has infiltrated our beautiful planet. And I'll start with your precious blonde Girrrrl-pal, hihihi. How could you ever throw yourself into this filth?“

Lex took some steps to the right, folded his hands in front of his chest, and looked at his sister: „I wanted to spare you.“ Lex looked like a disappointed teacher whose model student had failed.

“I had big plans for you. I had found the perfect partner for you. The perfect addition to living up to the name Luthor. But when I found out that you had let this disgusting creature impregnate you, I knew you could not be saved. Give birth to atrocities, how could you? Nobody with honor will want to marry such a damaged good as you are. A lost soul and used body.“ He looked a little happier now.  
“So no mercy for you. No mercy for the whore that you are,” Lex giggled.

“You have clearly lost your ability to hurt me if you think you can impress me with a few dirty words. And if you knew what she calls me in bed, you would be ashamed of your lack of imagination and creativity. But don't you dare to call my wonderful children an abomination. They are perfect, brilliant people and you are nothing compared to them,“ Lena exclaimed.

Kara's ears went red for a moment when Lena had said that thing about them in bed.

Lex's eyes narrowed as he listened to Lena's words. He hissed angrily, disparagingly, and disgustedly: “You always thought too much with your heart, Lena. You had her on a gold plate. You could have used her so easily. We could have had so much fun. But you couldn't see it. Too hurt. Licking your wounds. What she would have done for you because she didn't want to lose you. She would have done so many wonderful things for you to forgive her. But instead of following your good upbringing, you had to channel your inner drama queen, the unloved child. I would almost have pitied you if all this hadn't been so pathetic,“ another high-pitched, unnatural giggle escaped his mouth.

The hidden Lena was hurt by Lex’s words. He had always known how to get to her.

But her older self showed no signs of internal commotion or confusing emotions. And somehow the younger Lena knew that it was Kara. Kara had done something to her. Something good.

Also, Kara was clearly ready to defend her and to name Lex's lies and manipulations, but one look at Lena sr. was enough to know that she didn't need that kind of defending. Kara just had to be around. That was adequate protection.

Kara mumbled to Lena sr.: "What the hell has he done to himself? He seems to be a different kind of crazy than when I last saw him. He's a lot more intimidating in my time."

“As I told you, an experiment went terribly wrong. It resulted in this scar and caused massive brain injury. Unfortunately, it also took the last bit of his human feelings, made him more unpredictable and somehow more ridiculous. I don't know him very well like that. I only saw him once when we threw him into space - or rather, we thought that we had thrown him into space ", Lena replied so quietly that only Kryptonian ears could understand her.

Lex was still smiling, looked from Kara to Lena, folded his hands over his chest again and his voice sounded less harmless than before: "And that is the reason why you will die tonight. Your arrogance, your negligence. Do you think you came here of your own will? Let me make one thing clear- I wanted you to come. I lured you into my trap. And again it was so simple. So simple. They say you're a genius. But the Luthor family has only one genius - and it's clearly not you! But enough with the chat. Tonight I'll be the one who makes sure that she takes her last breath and then you. But first, there is a little show for you."

"Sorry, I don't understand. Whose last breath? Are you talking to me - is he talking to me or you?" Kara hissed at Lena.

"Me", Lena paused, "I think", she winked. Somehow the mood between them turned into something dizzy and headless for a tiny moment.

Perhaps the constant pressure of the past few hours had become too much, or it had been something else ... but somehow Kara had to laugh out loudly.

That had a terrible effect on Lex. His smile faded and was replaced by pure hatred: "Alien. You will lose your superhuman pretense in a minute. And dear sister - laugh as long as you can. Which won't take long! It's your last chance to ridicule yourself and the Luthor name. Soon enough you will only sob when you have to watch the biggest mistake of your life kneel before me, bleeding and dying in agony - like a mean calf. You will watch how she loses her life and with it all your dreams, your life and your children ... puff - everything slowly but surely will disappear into thin air, as it had never existed.“ During his speech, Lex paced back and forth in his cage like a tiger.

Lena jr, who was still hiding, felt her heart start beating faster and faster. The whole scene was surreal. Lena and Kara showed no trace of fear, which - at least from their experience - was extremely stupid.

But what had tripled the pressure on her chest was the mention of children. Their children. That she had with her wife. And in this situation, as she watched Kara and her older self in front of her, she could no longer suppress the certainty of who this woman would fill this position.

Her thoughts were so busy that she almost missed Lex clapping his hands and the whole room started to glow in a devilish green light.

And then Kara's screams pierced the air and the silly mood of moments ago was replaced by something very serious and urgent.

Lena sr. leaned over to the superhero and pleaded: “Kara! No, oh no-no-no.“ Lex pointed a gun at Lena and said, "Kneel and watch her die."

"Never," shouted both Lenas.

Now several things were happening at the same time.  
Lena sr. knelt next to Kara, but instead of waiting for Lex's next order, she pulled something out of her pocket and injected it into Kara's throat, who let out another scream and went unnaturally quiet as the green in her veins faded started.

When Lex realized Kara was healing, he pulled the trigger and aimed at Lena sr.

At the same time, Lena jr. shot her brother.

Meanwhile, the rumbling sound of the portal had become incredibly loud and much brighter.

A rapidly growing bloodstain formed over Lex's chest. Lex looked at his sister aghast. His lip was drawn up and exposed long teeth, which gave his face something rodent-like.

The noise from the portal got louder again and then - with a spectacular bang - several people were thrown out of the portal.

One of them fell on Lex, who slammed upside down on the hard floor.

But nobody looked at him.

Lena sr. was focused solely on Kara, who seemed  
better but still looked terribly dazed.

Lena jr. couldn't take her eyes off the five people who had entered the scene with so much aplomb.

The first person she recognized was an older version of Kara who actually didn't look much older than "her" Kara. This Kara ran towards the future Lena, who was taking care of Supergirl.

The other four people were two young women and two teenagers. Confusingly, the boy had Kara's eyes, but he also reminded her of Lex when he was still her brother and not the madman he had become and whom she killed. A few minutes ago.

The girls were beautiful and they looked familiar too. The tallest and the dark-haired woman had started to secure the room while the younger woman had also rushed to the injured superhero.

The boy looked at her. That was how she first noticed the thing with Kara's eyes. Hesitantly, he approached her. He reached out and gently touched her arm.

She couldn't understand what he was saying. Too many loud noises had confused her hearing.

He came a bit nearer and then the young man's voice finally penetrated the background noise and she understood: "Mom?"

That was when she decided she needed a break.

It wasn't a very conscious decision. She just fell over, but strong arms caught her in time before she hit the ground.

While falling her head had turned to the left, toward the portal.

A moment before she passed out, she realized that Lex was gone.


	9. Can the future Save the past? Part one

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Very short interlude. How do Kara and the children react to the fact that Lena has traveled into the past ...

_27 years in the future, in the villa, shortly after Lena sr and Kara flew back into the past_

Lena had just gone off with Kara to save the past.

The Kara of the present stood a little undecided in the laboratory. Her neck tingled. That only happened when trouble was on the way. Lena had made fun of it and started to call it her "necktect".

But Kara took the tingling in her neck seriously.

The other Kara had mentioned that in this present there was very likely a time portal connected to her time. And this riddle irritated her. Apart from all the questions about where from where, and how she was mainly concerned with the question about why she didn't know about it.

Why hadn't they heard about unusual events? A portal always sends out a lot of energy, rays, and all kinds of proofs of its existence, which are especially noticeable when it was not there before. Kara was certain that the DEO carefully controlled and logged each of these types of activity and investigated any inconsistencies. That was part of the job, after all.

And her wife would be the first to know about such things. Because such things would be exactly what the DEO would consult Lena about.

Her wife. Lena. Was now on a mission to another time. Kara couldn't stand it when Lena had to go on an international business trip. She wanted to be sure that she could protect her wife at all times. Knowing that she was in a tiny cubicle that was only protected against the forces of space and time by weak material made her - to put it simply - restless. The more apt expression was extremely uneasy, which still did not describe her emotional state one hundred percent.

Knowing that her younger self was with her wife was the only thing that made the whole situation bearable.

Although Kara was not aware of the depth of her feelings towards the green-eyed Luthor, she had cared for her friend. Lena had always felt at home. Kara just hadn't been able to put her feelings into words, and without the right words, these feelings had just floated around without giving her the ability to act adequately upon them. But Kara knew for sure that her younger self would look after Lena the way she would.

This thought helped to focus again on her task in the here and now.

So how did the events pass by the DEO? Or who was holding them back?  
After considering all sorts of explanations, Kara concluded that, unfortunately, the most likely answer was that someone on her team had tampered with the data.

She decided to call her sister. Basically, that was a good idea. One that should have occurred to her much sooner.

Fortunately, Kara thought very quickly. All of these lines had raced through her mind in less than thirty seconds as she walked up the stairs to the first floor and then turned into her bedroom.

Besides Lena, Alex was still her most important person. And she was also the head of the DEO.

Kara opened the door to the balcony and was ready to take off when a cough behind her back wrenched her from her thoughts.

"We want to come with you," Liam said.

„All of us,“ Lisa confirmed. Her determined eyes left no room for discussion.

Kara had been thinking so hard that she forgot about her babies. Oh no.

Now she was looking at her four children. All of them had DETERMINATION written on their faces. She knew that without the support of her wife, she would have no chance against the will of her children. Instead of arguing and lecturing with them about possible dangers, she opened her arms for a group hug.

None of their children accepted the invitation.

„This can’t be hugged away,“ said Lisa.  
"We want to help," Lizzy stated. "And we will, either you take us with you or we will do our own research. Your choice, ”explained Lexi.

They all reminded her so much of her wife at that moment.

Kara knew that forbidding them to be an active part of this adventure would be in vain. Past events had proven time and again that their offspring were as stubborn as their mothers.

And they were four against an alien. Who in general wasn't so much against working with her children - when it came to adventure - as her wife?

Of course, Kara wanted her babies to be safe, but she also wanted them to follow her hearts. And if that meant danger, they just needed to be better protected. And she and Lena were able to offer them the best technical and physical protection one could get on this planet. But even though Lena had invented a whole bunch of gear and all of them were well trained, Lena was still worried about them. Like all the time.

Kara concluded that Lena had left her alone with her children. So it was her choice. So she nodded and said: "Ok, but we'll take the car."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... the next part of the chapter will be much longer ... see you soon!


	10. Can the future save the past? Part two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex is angry; Kara calms her children down and then our heroes from the future also embark on the adventure. 
> 
> And all science is made up and has not a proton of scientific truth in it. If so it‘s by pur coincidence.

They arrived at the DEO 30 minutes later. Alex was waiting for them seething with anger. Kara had called her from the car and said that she was on the way to the DEO and that she should come there too. She had left out the reason for the visit.

  
Alex's former red hair was now a sexy silver-gray, reaching just above her ears and trimmed into a modern, short haircut. Her eyes were as deep as they used to be and she still could pull the leather look. Otherwise, she was no longer just badass but had developed a rather wise badass attitude since she was in charge of the DEO.

After a brief greeting, Alex did not wait for them to arrive at the conference room to start her interrogation.

"What happened? We all moved heaven and earth to be at Lexi's big graduation ceremony, and suddenly I get a call from your wife that there would be a change of plan and we shouldn't worry. But your family wouldn’t make it. My sister would contact me asap to fill me in on the whole situation. I've been waiting for this call for almost 90 minutes. So let's get down to it: What happened and why are you here? And where is Lena?"

"Jeju from the past visited us to pick up our mother so she could save the world," Lizzy explained to her aunt.

"Oh," Alex's facial muscles went through some interesting expressions.

"It's so cool," Liam said with pride.

He had inherited that puppy joy from Kara. Sometimes he tried to downplay his excitement and wanted to appear as relaxed as his other mother or his sister Lexi. But the overflowing energy couldn't be tamed for too long.

"You were always mom's little boy," Lisa said unnecessarily mean, but added, "Sorry, little brother. It's no shame to be proud of our mothers. Sometimes they are even cool - at least compared to the average soccer mom."

„That’s rich coming from you," Lexi reprimanded her younger sister and pointed to Lisa and Liam."For you, our mothers literally became soccer moms who never missed a game. At least one of them was always there to cheer you on - loudly. Also: focus. We are here for a reason. "

Lisa and Liam rolled their eyes but stopped the teasing.

"It's always a pleasure to be with my lovely nieces and nephews." Alex also rolled her eyes and turned to Kara: "Please explain again what happened." The older Danvers sister looked Just a little less pissed.

“Lizzy already summed it up perfectly. My younger self came to our house and said that there was a big crisis in her time. Cadmus or another terrorist organization is killing off the alien population with a poison that comes from the future. And that's why her Lena sent her to the future to get help. And now..."

Kara went on to explain, her kids adding details here and there. Alex just listened.

Kara was about to end the story “... this Kara, who has just come from the past, has no idea what Lena and I are for each other now. She will be so surprised and confused and I think happy too. Maybe my former self can tell her about my secret herself. Then she won't find out from her brother and maybe less angry with me. Do you know I still have to tiptoe around Lena every year around the date of the reveal? Even in the year, Lisa was born, ONE day before the day. Luthors for sure can hold a grudge... "

„Back to the part with the time-machine.“ Alex redirected Kara’s train of thought. 

“Lena built one. She told me about it 15 years or so ago. She said the machine-made her feel safe and able to save her family if something went really wrong. We were tempted to use it several times. But doing so is dangerous and not something that should be done lightly. "

Alex, used to her sister-in-law's logic, nodded. That was definitely something Lena would do. Build a time machine for safety reasons. After all these years at the DEO, there was hardly anything that could surprise her. Not even a visit from her sister of the past. 

"And what about this portal?"

“Puh, that’s something we know nothing about. But Lena has some theories. For one she is very sure that the terrorists don't have a time machine. She said something about the absence of traces in time and their lack of genius. My words - she used more humble ones.

Second: She is pretty sure that there is some kind of portal - like a jump gate that connects our time with the past. There is a theory about the manipulation of black holes. How they manage to bound them to earth? No idea. Maybe the terrorists found the connection by pure chance, maybe they created a way to manipulate black holes - which would be a very scary thought, though. Lena said it would make sense if we were to look for such a time tunnel or jumpgate here. If it is something like that, then it is not particularly stable and would probably collapse after 5 to 7 years. This means that the terrorists may not be operating from this year, but they are operating around our present. Lena is very sure that the gate is still here. But we have to hurry. Every major occurrence will have severe consequences for this timeline.“

Kara didn't have to explain this in detail. Alex understood. If Kara died in the past, she would be erased from the future. Which would also mean that she would no longer have nieces or a nephew.

"I wonder why there haven't been any changes yet?" said Lisa. Lexi replied: “What we think is normal is the result of what happened in the past. There may have been big changes that we don't know about. But our mothers are still alive and in love. "

Alex touched a large screen that looked like window glass and rearranged several symbols and letters. Without taking her eyes off the screen, she asked her sister: "Do you have any idea where this portal could be?"

“No, all I know is that the deaths started in Iceland. The trail of attacks then leads towards National City. There are superheroes all over the world - in Asia, Africa, or Europe - but the attackers focused on me. I think they are American. I suggest we look for unnatural radiation in the US and Iceland. "

„Jeju, don’t you wonder why they are attacking you in the past?“ Liam pointed out.

“Well, your mother thinks the terrorists somehow got this second chance. In fact, Cadmus was dead, and so was Lex. But now they have the opportunity to use biological weapons from the future in the past.  
And if they win there, they win here too. Still, she warned me not to be too careless on our side. Although they are already killing in the past, it is very possible that they planned attacks or set traps on this side of the time as well. "

„Especially if Cadmus is behind it. Uncle Lex might be dead for five years, but our granny is still out there. She might be old, but hate is a strong motor. And she really does hate aliens.  
Especially after you've corrupted her daughter and caused her to give birth to four great atrocities,” Lisa said with mischief in her eyes.

"Yes, your grandmother really loves you very much," Alex said sarcastically, which earned her a few laughs from the young aliens.

"But she does," said Kara. "Just as she loves Lena - in a complicated and hurtful way, but she loves you,“ she whispered the last three words. The others laughed, but Kara was serious.

She knew how much Lena suffered from the fact that her stepmother had never found it in her to show her real affection. But Kara knew deep down that Lillian loved Lena. And also their grandchildren. When the girls were little, Lillian had tried a lot of crazy things to get close to Lena. Everyone was convinced that these had been attempts to kill her. Everyone but her

Kara was sure that Lillian had tried to show her affection. Unconventionally and destructively, Kara admitted that much. From the outside, it had looked like she had tried to harm her daughter since giving birth to her first child. But all the attempts had been badly planned and it was obvious - at least to Kara - that they had only been a way to get in touch with Lena. And to take a look at her grandchildren.

Kara remembered one of those attacks. Lilian had paralyzed her body, but her mind had been wide awake. She saw Lillian standing in front of Lena, a gun aimed at her daughter's heart. But instead of shooting, she insulted her.

Not in the way Alex would ever believe. Lillian had said, “You have always been ungrateful. So I shouldn't be surprised by any of this. But that my driver Gazmo had to find out about my first grandchild! Gazmo of all people! Who saw your belly and then ran to me to congratulate me on becoming a grandmother. And you haven't even sent me a picture of her yet. "

"You will never be her grandmother," Lena had said in an icy voice, but Kara could feel her trembling.

And then two security guards had jumped into the scene and Lillian had fled through the window, wearing some kind of super suit.

Lena had read the scene very differently from Kara. She had only seen accusations and malice in it. But Kara just knew that Lilian was seriously interested in her grandchildren. She had even given up Cadmus for her. Kara was sure of that. Lilian  
was not behind these attacks.

Lex? That was a different story. But he was dead. She had been the one who had literally thrown him into space. But if one person could figure out how to outsmart time and death, it would be him.

She had to find out more about all of this.

"We have the substance, don't we? Mom said most of the ingredients are normal stuff. Only one of the components is probably pretty hard to come by cause it's so rare. And you hardly get the stuff legally. If we find out where to buy it we can sure find clues about who bought it too," suggested Lisa.

Alex nodded: “That's not much, but it’s a start. And I have already ordered investigations on these gravitational fields. If there's a time tunnel somewhere around here, we'll find it. And then we’ll also find out who was sitting on that information."

Kara: "If these rays exist, it's a really bad sign that we don't know anything about them! It shows that the terrorists would also be operating from this side."

Alex looked a bit frustrated: “I just said that. Well - I have to go and deal with this thing now. See you again in around two hours. Don’t do anything stupid. All of you! No investigation on your own. I am serious.“

She looked grimly at the five faces. All of them nodded in agreement. Even Lisa.

***********  
Alex came back after an hour with tasks for everyone.

Lexi would review data in the lab and look for further clues in the dangerous substance. Lisa would hack into the net. She was very good at discovering hidden things, like who bought what from whom, without following the legal rules.

Lizzy studied all the data and looked for unusual constellations and force fields. She had a keen eye for shapes and patterns.

The three of them had already thrown themselves into work when Kara found Liam withdrawn and thoughtfully sitting on the balcony.

He wasn't sitting directly on the balcony, but on the roof above. His legs dangled in the air. His medium-length hair was tousled in the wind. He looked tense. Kara put an arm around his shoulder comfortingly. Although he often emphasized that he was no longer a little boy, he allowed it.

In fact, he was grown up enough to admit: “I miss mom. And I'm worried about her. I know she's brilliant and everything, but she's also ... well ... human. "

Kara pulled her son closer to her: “As long as you are here, she is fine."  
"That sounds like comfort Lisa would give ... you can do better," Liam scolded.

"Sorry baby, you're right. I am a little worried myself and I miss her too. But I also know how capable your mother is. And basically I'm with her and I can protect her. And there are two of her. Tell me who will be able to take on two of your mothers. No one! So don't worry, Unah. Everything will be fine."

At least that was what Kara was hoping for.

However, the reasons for her concern were different from Liam's. Kara was very sure that two Lenas were almost invincible, especially since they had the protection of one Kryptonian.

But how would Lena react to the reveal of her second identity? The first time had gone so horrible. How would she react under these conditions?

Sometimes Kara still couldn't believe this was her life. Lena was her wife who, even after all these years, was still an amazingly passionate lover and who told her personally every evening that she loved her or when she was on a business trip she would at least call or surprise her with small gifts.

And she was so beautiful. Kara had cried through both wedding ceremonies - the official, after all, was a public figure - and the intimate one, that had included just their closest friends and family and all the important Kryptonian rituals.

How much would this adventure change their present?

Kara decided to trust her current wife, her own younger self, and the person Lena had been 27 years ago.

„Thank you, mama.“ For a moment Liam rested his head on her shoulder. Then he let himself slide slowly from the roof to the balcony and went into the building.

As a computer nerd, he would work with Lisa. Or maybe he could hack his way into NASA and some foreign space programs to see if they found anything interesting for their operation.

Kara was about to follow him when she saw Lexi come out onto the balcony.

In the face of her daughter, who was most similar to her wife (she had even gone through a Goth phase a few years ago), she knew that her daughter was occupied with something completely different from the current situation.

Lexi was lost in thoughts and floating a few inches above the floor as she used to since she was a little girl and something was upsetting her.

"Hey ishkah," Kara whispered very quietly so as not to frighten her daughter too much.

“Oh, hey jeju. I didn't see you at all,“ Lexi said absently.

They stood side by side, broad shoulder next to broad shoulder - both starring at the city that spread out under the huge balcony.

"Hey," Kara had the impulse to take her daughter's hand but knew she wouldn't like it now.

"The day didn't go as you imagined, my big one. Your mother and I are very sorry. We know how much you looked forward to a little normalcy. You have said it so often, we understand it and wanted to respect it,” Kara said gently.

Lexi pressed her lips together and looked frustrated. “That was eight or ten years ago. I fully understand how privileged we are to have you as our parents.. also that there is a price for it. And that's perfectly ok. Aside from the fact that you still treat me like I am the angry teenage girl I used to be,“ Lexi said indignantly. "The last thing on my mind right now is that graduation party. "

So what is it then?" asked Kara.

Lexi's cheeks flushed. "I wanted to tell you and mom that things have changed between me and Kyle. We are - ah, why is this still so difficult?“ Lexi groaned.

"It doesn't have to be. Just tell me what's going on," Kara assured her.

"We are dating. I love them - they love me back. Can you believe that?"

In fact, Kara could quite easily. Lena had claimed years ago that her daughter had fallen in love with her best friend.

"Oh baby, this is wonderful. How did you find out how you were feeling about each other?"

And then it gushed out of her otherwise reluctant daughter: how they had argued about something totally stupid and they had been so angry at each other and then suddenly kissed. She never knew she wanted to kiss her best friend. But suddenly she was sure that she would never want to stop again.

Both would have claimed to have taken the first step, a new argument had broken out, and then: “Well, you don't want to know the details, Jeju” and then they hadn't talked about it for weeks, and then it kept happening again and again. And then they would finally have admitted their love and now everything was so wonderful.

Kara thought Lexi was so similar to her mother, but not being able to interpret her own feelings, that was all her.

When they had started dating, Lena had told her that she always had known about her feelings for Kara. While it had taken Kara time to realize that her feelings weren't platonic.

Lexi continued, "And now mom is not here and I can't tell her she was right." Kara hadn't known her wife and Lexi had been talking about Kyle.

"And now I can't even give my speech. I've been working on it for four weeks." Kara noted that it bothered Lexi not to be at the graduation ceremony, though she had said so otherwise.

"But it doesn't matter. I know that but mom is not here and I miss her and I'm getting scared. Because at first you only think about what needs to be done to save the world. And then your mother sets out to do just that. And suddenly you understand: your mother has just traveled through the damned time. What if she never comes back? What if she is killed or just can't go back because something is destroyed or she can't fix it because she lacks something from the future. And then I can never tell her about this thing between Kyle and me, and I can't tell her anything anymore and. .. "

Kara interrupted her daughter by pulling her into a tight hug, stroking her hair, and making some soothing noises, a Kryptonian sound that only (half) Kryptonians could hear.

Lexi was stubborn but also very sensible. Fortunately, she had also learned to express her inner struggles.

All of her children were good at it except Lizzy, who brooded and took time to think about a situation or emotion first before she could talk about it. And when she needed advice, she never came to her but rather confided in Lena or Alex. It hurt, but Kara was glad Lizzy had someone to talk to.

“Hey, my strong daughter. She will return. She always comes back and we always protect her. Let's take a short flight, calm our nerves, and then find the damned gate and bring them back.“

„I can’t believe that you used not to swear, mama,“ said Lexi - her head on her mother's chest. Mama was an endearment she only used when feeling especially vulnerable or close to her mother.

******************

After hours of researching and sifting through the data, they finally found something unusual. A tiny signal that shouldn't be there.  
At the DEO, 27 years in the future

The strange thing was that it came not from one but two places, several thousand kilometers apart. That could mean a lot of things. For example, there were at least two jumpgates.

They had also found a clue as to who had hidden the information inside the DEO. A decoding specialist had written suspicious messages to an undetectable address outside the DEO system.

They weren't done with the interrogation, but Alex wasn't optimistic about the amount of useful information. They had found a high dose of a new type of drug in the person's bloodstream that had serious effects on his brain. He had been reported sick for some time before they found out about the leak.

Alex's team didn't know if he had been an addict or had been recently made one. There was other evidence to suggest that the attackers who poisoned aliens were behind it. But so far no connection to the Luthors or especially to Cadmus.

The family discussed the new findings for a while and then decided to travel to the two places that were sending out the suspicious signals.

Lexi, who was already fully trained to be a superhero but had decided against becoming one, would go with Alex and Liam.

The second team consisted of Kara, Lisa, and Lizzy.

Liam had started serious training three months ago. He had dreamed of becoming a superboy since he was 4. Then the thing happened with the psychopath who had forced his Jeju to choose between the life of her wife or that of her children.

Kara had saved them all - obviously. But this incident had fundamentally changed his view of a hero's life. He never wanted to be in a situation where he would have to decide who would survive and who would die.

The girls were also not very interested in becoming the next superhero. Lizzy was the only one who was still thinking about it. Lexi wanted to work in the L-Corp laboratories and invent a bunch of fancy stuff and Lisa was much more interested in changing the world with politics. Her brother and sisters told her that she first had to develop the ability to speak diplomatically. But she said what the world needed was real honesty - no sugar-sweet oaths that lead to absolutely nothing.

Many of their dreams would come true, others would not. But that's life. Even if you can fly and look through walls.

They decided to head straight to the two locations, that were emitting the strange signals. And with that, the really adventurous part of this story also began for our heroes in the future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your comments and the cheers! I am always happy about your messages, likes and that you are reading this!


	11. Can the future save the past - short INTERMEZZO

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What goes around comes around...

**6 years in the past - from the Luthor-Danvers family point of view - somewhere deep in the Appalachian mountains**

Burt had been a failure all his life.  
It had started at his conception. His mother had wanted neither him nor his father. Reluctantly, she let him grow within herself without ever putting her hand on her stomach or something like that. She cared little about how he felt floating up and down her womb. Instead, she continued to party and to whore around. Then she gave him away, right after the birth, without even looking at him.

Or that`s how Burt imagined his mother. And his anger at this woman in particular and at all women in the world grew. While he was alone at home waiting for his father to come back from work. Or when he failed in school. Or when he tried to impress the bad guys in the neighborhood and lost three fingers on his left hand and his pride.

He constantly disgraced his father, who had tried to raise him alone and who had contributed in no small measure to Burts's anger at his mother.

He tried himself as a soldier but was dishonorably discharged after a few months. He got by doing odd jobs but didn't keep a job for more than a few weeks.  
He wasn't lazy. He could work. That wasn't his problem. People just didn't treat him fairly. He blamed his mother for this, too. Not his outrageous remarks in the direction of his colleagues and the stench that emanated from his unkempt body.

It was a lousy life in a lousy world, full of people who went after him. That just didn't allow him the smallest bit of joy and happiness in life.

But then - after years of desperation, living in the dirt and feeling like nothing was treated, something good had happened to him.

To this day he couldn't explain how and he had forgotten when. But somehow he had met Christopher, who had offered him a job in the mountains. On a kind of ranch deep in the Appalachian Mountains. It was a backbreaking job that demanded everything from him physically. But he was alone, got good food, and was paid quite well. The job was perfect for him. All he had to do was look away when the blue vans came by, bringing things with them, sometimes people. It wasn't difficult to look away when you worked as hard as he did. It keeps the brain from thinking too much or doing other stupid things.

And then Christopher died.

And since he had no family and no one else who wanted to continue running his ranch or the other business, he bequeathed the building and the fields to Burt. The transporters stopped coming, which didn't bother Burt. He just decided to stay and continue to plow and became a self-sufficient farmer. He rarely saw other people.

Once a year he had to drive to the next village to fill his cigarette supply, a truck that he had kept. He had calculated that the money he had earned at Christopher would be enough until he was 83 years old. He only spent it on tobacco. He grew everything else himself.

As always, he had loaded the cigarette packs into his wooden handcart and had been walking twelve hours - twelve more long before he would reach his destination - when he heard a strange hum in the air. It was a deep sound, like millions of bees dancing together. Then there was silver light - thunder - and some kind of mysterious eye opened in front of him, making a gurgling sound. A little later the thing spat out a creature covered all over with blood.

Burt stopped. An ice-cold shiver ran down his spine. He was about to just move on, but that damn curiosity grabbed him. He stood around for a while, undecided. The bundle made noises that sounded human, but also badly wounded.

Burt took a step towards the silver eye and the bundle in front of it. Maybe it was a sign from God? Burt had never been a religious man. But he knew for sure that whatever that pulsating thing was, it wasn't made by a human. And it had killed - or almost killed, a man.

He'd better go. Maybe the thing was hungry and would like to eat him too. That was a reasonable thought. Burt was proud that he could think so clearly despite the danger. Yes, he should go away - quietly. He was good at disappearing silently.

But then suddenly he also thought about what and where he would be if he hadn't experienced the kindness of another man. Without Christopher, he probably would be dead by now.

Burt wasn't a religious person, maybe a little superstitious. And he'd heard of karma and stuff. What goes around comes around and so on.

He took a deep breath and turned around.

He would never know that the man he rescued and would nurse back tolife and then would take to the village to board a train that would take this man to town was actually one of his deadliest enemies.

Because Burt wasn't human.


	12. Can the future save the past -  part three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex, Lisa and Liam make a discovery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unfortunately, I made a mistake in the last chapter, which is now updated. The scene in the previous chapter takes place six years before the storyline that takes place in the future. To clarify: there is one in the present, one 27 years in the future, and just this little in-between episode, basically 21 years in the future.  
> But now let's go forward 27 into the future.
> 
> Hope you enjoy this story, and as always - your kudos and comments make my day.

**_27 years in the future (or 6 years after this little scene happened in the Appalachians)_ **

The two teams left the DEO at the same time and arrived at their destinations at about the same time. This was mainly because the first target was so close to the DEO that Kara's team could not bypass the flight ban.

Since the second target was hidden deep in the Appalachians, even Alex had agreed to relax the ban. She had even allowed herself to let Lexi fly her to her destination.

Mainly because the location from which the significantly weaker rays were measured was difficult to access.

Both teams found the same natural spectacle and watched it from a distance. Everyone was impressed by the silver-gray eye that seemed to be pulsing.

The attacks were likely orchestrated from another year. Lena's calculations had shown that the Jumpgate would have to be stable for at least five years, but under certain conditions may be up to twenty years.

Team Alex hid behind a massive rock wall and secured the area from here. Alex, Lexi, and Liam sat in front of their laptops, which weighed next to nothing, but which had many special sensors installed on them. So full to the brim with the technology of the very latest generation from L-Corp.

The portal was on a plateau of one of the higher mountains. Black, silvery, and about four meters high. Looking like the open jaws of a hungry shark, who was about to attack.

The area was cold, windy, and remote. To reach this place, you would have to walk at least a day from the next village. Or just be able to fly.

They couldn't find any traces of complex brain activity near the portal. The swings in their seismographs suggested that the portal had not been used for years. If it had been used at all.

"Let's jump in and see where it takes us?" Suggested Liam.

Alex felt responsible for the safety of her nephew and niece. At the same time, it was difficult for her to hide her own curiosity. The scientist in hers was determined to investigate this strange phenomenon.

Lena had said that jumping back in time via Jumpgate wouldn't be fatal even for a human - at least she had presented this theory very convincing. And so her following statement clearly lacked the otherwise typical Alex authority: "Better not. We should wait until we have talked to your Jeju about it and know what they have found out… Lexi, don't get that close to the gate!"

Lexi, who had looked skeptically at the portal while listening to her aunt, had taken a long, thin instrument out of a toolkit that could be used to measure gravitational density. Whenever she got too close to the gate, her aunt's eyes twitched nervously.

After a while, the tall young woman said, "I think this portal has not been used more than once, maybe twice. The atoms are very regularly arranged. And these patterns here are basically like very, very faded strips of condensation of an airplane. I would say this gate was last used over ten years ago.“ Her face turned dreamy. "I always wanted to know what it felt like to fall through a dimension. Maybe it's time to find out," she winked at her brother and let herself fall into the portal.

"No, shit, shit, shit," said Alex. "Those daring Luthorgenes." Lexi was a very controlled person. But just like with her mother, there were things that were incredibly attractive to her. And no characteristic in her was more pronounced than her thirst for knowledge.

“She's crazy but awesome,” said Liam, following his sister.

Alex pressed a button on her watch. Nobody answered, so she spoke on tape: “Kara, your children have decided to find out what is on the other side. No reason to panic. Have everything under control. Nobody's here - so don't worry," Alex sounded exactly as shaken as she felt. "I'll follow them and get back to you as soon as possible. See you later. And you owe me. Your kids are ... oh what the heck ... I like your kids. See you later. "

Alex took a deep breath and jumped.

*********

Being in the portal felt like being on a very steep water slide with no water and after taking a large number of various drugs. And then Alex saw the light at the end of the tunnel. Shortly afterward she landed roughly on a hard lawn.

It took Alex a few minutes to sort herself and her limbs. It felt like she had a terrible hangover even though still drunk.

At least it seemed that she had not broken a bone when she fell from the portal.

Liam sat down next to his aunt and stroked her arm and mumbled: "There there." An inside joke between aunt and her nieces and nephews picked up from an old sitcom they'd watched together.

His youthful face was torn between worry and a mocking smile. "Let me guess, you don't get paid enough for this shit."

"Five dollars in the swear jar," stammered Alex. "Just because I feel like being digested by a giant dinosaur doesn't mean you can talk like you weren't raised by ... Oh, what the hell - yeah, I feel like shit," she admitted.

"Mom isn't here and the person who taught me the best swear words is you. I think it's a good opportunity to try them all out, as long as my moms can't hear it," Liam smiled his big sunny smile.

Alex stood up and cleaned her clothes off the dust that had settled all over her. "Hm, let's see. Where's your sister, little Luthor?” said Alex, still pained because her whole body ached.

As if on cue, Lexi, who had started exploring the area as soon as she had landed, returned to the two of them.

"I'm not 100 percent sure, but I think I've been here with my mothers before," Lexi said.

"I don't know this place", Liam was sure as he looked over the wide garden with neatly cut dark green grass, which was lined with apple and plum trees on the left and a small coniferous forest on the right.

"I think you weren't born then. But I remember Lisa was there. And I think Mom was pregnant. With Lizzy or you. She was sick every morning and had a huge belly. I still remember that I thought it was pretty funny how she walked ... " Lexi looked up into the blue sky. "I'll take a closer look around. I just wanted to see if you, Alex, finally arrived. Now that you are here, I'll first find out where we are." She said this without waiting for an answer and flew away.

"She is not allowed to do that," Liam remarked, a little jealous of his sister, who always knew best when to break the rules and when to obey them.

“You are definitely not flying with her. She's grown up and you don't want to leave your poor, fragile aunt in the middle of nowhere. I'm right? " said Alex.

"I could easily carry you," Liam boasted.

“Yes, I know that you are strong enough to carry the whole forest. But - this is not gonna happen! No flying human cargo in daylight," Alex replied resolutely.

She still had that natural authority, even though her marriage and the two children had softened her privately.

Lexi landed silently next to them. "That was quick, even for a super," grumbled Alex.

Lexi ignored the foul mood of her aunty: “I knew I was here before. We were here. It was Uncle Lex's funeral. There weren't many people there, just us - mom, Jeju, Lisa, Lizzy, and me. Mom didn't really want to go. But Jeju thought it was important for her to say goodbye. Because he was her brother after all. Before he went from being a good brother to being a bad one - and a mass murderer. Lilo, if you ever decide to become such an idiot, don't expect me to go to your funeral," Lexi teased her little brother.

"Oh, you would," said Liam. “You love me too much, big sister. All these memories. And I'm your only brother. You'd cry me an ocean. You'd miss me so much. "

"You're probably right," Lexi admitted.

"No more talking about dead brothers or dead children in general," said Alex. She felt her headache get worse at the thought of Lex and the reminder that something could ever happen to one of her loved ones. Completely different reasons - but at this moment the same result. Her head throbbed.

"But my core message was that we are on the Luthor property in National City. If we walked through this little forest, we could see the mansion. The cemetery is on the other side of the trees. "

Ah, Alex thought, maybe that was the main reason for her pounding head. All the Luthors made her crave for a strong drink, painkillers, and a shotgun. Except for Lena and the kids, naturally.

"Of course, this gate leads into the garden of the notorious Luthors,” Alex said sullenly.

"We all know that mom's family is crazy. And xenophobic. But also very determined. I don't like any of this, but it could still be a coincidence," Liam didn't seem too convinced of the correctness of this assumption.

"I don't believe in such coincidences," said Alex, looking at Lexi. "Were you able to find out whether this area is being monitored? There must be a surveillance system, lasers, or something. I hope there are no dogs. I really like dogs, but not so much those that are trained to chase unwelcome intruders. "

"I haven't seen any. But I'm sure there is surveillance. I'm actually quite surprised that we haven't been greeted by an army of security guards.”

"Maybe we are in the future and the Luthors are dead?" Liam suggested. It was strange to speak of the Luthors in the third person and not to mean his own pretty awesome family.

"Alex, you are aware that you are still feeling not too well. What do you think will happen to your head if you start your journey through time too early?"

"You could go alone - and Liam will stay with me."

"... and tell them what? Mama won't be happy that I left you and Liam alone without my protection. Just to come back to them without any helpful information. We don't even know what year this is? Or who lives in the mansion? Or how all this relates to the murders in our past that started the whole shitshow? Do you really want to go back to your sister with nothing in hand?"

Lexi had brought up some right and valuable points - or at least that's what Alex, who had again been successfully manipulated by her sisters' offspring. Part of Alex knew that, but the larger part wanted exactly those answers.

Gritting her teeth, she agreed to examine the area first. Each for themselves, but only for a short time.

When they met again about 35 minutes later, Alex was moody: "I couldn't find anything unusual. This is just an impressively large garden. My cell phone doesn't work, so I couldn't do any research. Just think a little, and I don't like where my thoughts are going."

"I couldn't find Uncle Lex's tombstone. Didn't he get one because he's a sociopath?" Liam reported.

"He got one! I remember because he had a big, impressive angel on it. Mom thought that was kind of funny because it didn't really suit her brother when she ordered it. Lizzy was terrified of the thing and cried. The thing was very creepy," said Lexi.

"Well, I found the cemetery, and it's not there - neither the tombstone nor an angel. I found Lionel's grave, and I think at least fifteen other graves of our ancestors. Lex wasn't among them. I've walked the rows several times. Did you know that Lionel had a sister named Leondra Kassandra Bechamel? Who in their right mind would call his child Bechamel? "

"Lilo, pull yourself together. This is serious business."

"Sis, cool it. I'm only interested in my ancestors - that will probably still be allowed!"

"That must mean we are at least fifteen years in the past," argued Lexi. "Which fits with my memory that Mom was about to give birth. And Lizzy being there and being afraid of the angel. Because then she was pregnant with you. Or is there a chance that we have traveled to a parallel universe?"  
"No, it's a time tunnel," said Alex.

"So the question is, how far are we in the past?" Liam added.

“Fortunately for us, I bought this newspaper. Sorry, I could have told you earlier. " Lexi unpacked the newspaper and showed it to Alex and Liam.

"We're pretty much exactly sixteen years in the past, " Lexi explained. Liam picked up the paper. "It still doesn't make sense."

Alex fixed a point far in the distance and then turned back to Lexi and Liam: "I think it finally does."


	13. Can the future save the past -  final part

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Both teams meet again. Alex is not doing very well.

************

The second region in which they had discovered radiation that indicated one of the entrances to a time tunnel being there was about two hours' flight time from the DEO. This gate was also hidden in a densely wooded valley. The part around the entrance was surrounded by a high electric fence. Large signs were put up every few meters, urgently warning all random visitors to this part of the forest not to enter the area behind without authorization.

Alex had been beside herself when she found out. How could something so significant so close to the DEO go so undiscovered?

Since increased radiation of other kinds had also been measured in the area, they had decided that Kara, Lisa, and Lizzy would visit this place. Though this place was much closer to the DEO, and Alex could have just driven there – it also would have been harmful to her health.

Here, too, apart from the fence, they did not find any surveillance systems or guards. The place seemed deserted for a few years.

It was all very strange. But what did they know about the rules of time travel?

After making sure they were alone several times and were urging Lizzy and Lisa on it, Kara finally agreed to explore the tunnel.

The second travel group experienced a flight through time and space comparable to that of Alex, Liam, and Lexi. But that they all had Kryptonian blood in their veins, nobody felt as deranged as Alex. Kara and Lizzy had even enjoyed the trip. Only Lisa would have liked to have had more control over her own body. Just let things happen to her wasn't her thing at all.

Where Alex, Liam, and Lexi had landed on almost soft ground, Kara and her two daughters fell on hard concrete. Lisa and Lizzy, who did not have the same body control as their mother, left two small craters the size of women on the floor. 

It was pitch black. Too dark for human eyes. Good thing they weren't human. They could see a large space, maybe like a cave.

While the girls looked around, Kara had filled up the two craters again so as not to leave any traces.

But that was unnecessary because Lisa pointed to a wall: "There is a camera." Shortly afterward, the room began to shimmer green.

"Lisa, Lizzy, we have to go back now! It's Kryptonite everywhere," Kara shouted.

Of course, they wore their protective suits against Kryptonite. Lena would never forgive her; would she ever forget to put on Lena’s perfected invention. Still, Kara's first instinct was to protect her children. The room was large, and her skin tingled uncomfortably despite the suit.

She also heard detonations and screams far away. They had to get reinforcements first.

She could see the curiosity and indecision on the faces of her daughters and grabbed them without further ado and threw them into the time tunnel.

"Why did you do that, Jeju. I heard people, and I think one of them was Alex," Lisa looked very angry.

Lizzy's heart was beating way too fast: "We have to go back. I heard her too."

"No way," Kara determined. "We're going back to the DEO and making a plan. No suicide mission under my leadership!"

It was rare for Kara to get strict. Maybe that was why Lisa and Lizzy grumbled after her.

***********  
"Why does it suddenly make sense to you now?" Liam wanted to know from his aunt.

“You know that your uncle had a pretty bad accident a good fifteen years ago. Only blood and some flesh were found. It was assumed that he had died in an unsuccessful experiment. And that turned out to be wrong when he showed up in your living room a good five years ago. Your mothers said that he had a big scar on his face. And that it still looked relatively fresh. As if it wasn't older than a few months. "

"Ah, I think I know what you're getting at," Lisa said.

"I am still lost," admitted Liam.

"Well, as I said, the accident happened a good fifteen years ago. A fortnight after this newspaper was printed," Alex held up the copy Lexi had bought.

"This simply can’t be a train of coincidences. Because the accident happened in the laboratories below the Luthor Villa. All of this is connected to the experiment that almost killed Lex,“ Alex continued.

"But what exactly? Do you think he created the jump gates?" Liam didn't seem convinced.

"Let's hypothetically assume that Lex somehow managed to mess around with black holes to be able to travel time. Maybe he wanted to go back to make up for his mistakes?" Lexi concluded.

"Ok, that sounds crazy, but it fits what I heard about Lex. So maybe something went wrong ..." Liam suggested.

"...it would explain why he was suddenly gone and then showing up with a fresh scar in the future," Lexi added.

All three stared in disbelief.

A short time later, Alex stood up, holding her pounding head.  
"I hate to say it, but I think that's the first theory that makes sense."

"We should go back and see what the others found out," Lexi said.

"That's a reasonable thought," Alex replied with a soft smile.

"I'm very sensible," said Lisa.

They went back to the gate. Alex's headache was still very present and she looked desperate.

"Liam can go and I'll wait with you," Lexi suggested.

“No, I'm coming with you. Just give me a minute to gather enough willpower."

After the three had jumped and the humming of the gate had subsided, the Luthor Mansion fell back into deep silence.

**************  
27 years in the future

Kara, Lisa, and Lizzy had been recovering on the sunbed for some time when Alex, Lexi, and Liam also returned to DEO.

Everyone looked exhausted - especially Alex. Her headache had become unbearable so that she could barely keep her eyes open or take a step straight in front of the other. The human body was not made for time travel like this.

Lexi placed her on one of the hospital beds in the organization's medicine wing. Several professionals immediately took care of her, put a drip of painkillers and sleeping pills, and prepared the MRI for a scan of her brain. They wanted to make sure it wasn't swollen or otherwise damaged.

The Kryptonians strengthened themselves with pizza or pizza with vegetables for the hybrids and exchanged their experiences and insights.

All of it indicated that Alex's theory had at least some truth in it.  
Lizzy had added a new strand to it. Namely, the second tunnel might have been created when Kara had catapulted Lex into space at high speed. 

Perhaps some of the substance Lex had experimented with had still been trapped inside him. And that way, a second tunnel was created, when it was exposed to a high concentration of energy of the throw. 

That would explain why one of the gates wasn't too far from the DEO. And thus, from the Luthor-Danvers estate.

Lisa took up this thought: "It all sounds so crazy. But well, we're talking about mom's family here. Evil people are like cats. They seem to have multiple lives and devilish luck. Let’s see…this second jump gate leads into a cave full to the brim with Kryptonite. There must be something of great importance to Lex there. It's the only entrance or exit that's guarded.”

The others agreed.

Win entered the room: "I have good news. Alex is fine. No permanent damage. She will have a terrible headache and be very tired for a while."

The general relief was palpable in the room. Kara went to look after her sister. Win accompanied her.

"What do we do now?" asked Lizzy.

"Let's go back, in our special anti-kryptonite suits, and prevent whatever nasty stuff our uncle has planned," Lisa said immediately.

“I like how you think,” Liam agreed immediately. Even Lexi nodded in agreement.

"Do you really think that this is a good idea? We have far too little knowledge of what is waiting for us," Lizzy was not very surprised by the activism of her siblings. But she still didn't like it.

"How are we supposed to get information if we don't go back?" Lisa was determined and had already changed. The suits were incredibly scratchy, but after all, Lisa was a fan of safe is safe.

Liam did the same, and also Lexi stood next to her siblings a short time later in her special suit.

Lizzy realized that she wouldn't have a chance to change their minds and gave in to her fate.

As the last leg of her pants was coming together behind her lower leg, Kara stepped through the door. "Your aunt lets you know that ... What's going on here. No no no no no, you all stay here."

"Like hell, we will," Lisa replied and rushed out in the direction of the exit.

What happened next was mostly incomprehensible to the human eye. Kara flew after her daughter; the other kids close on their heels. At the Balcony, she caught up with her daughter. 

Who started to yell at mother: "What if he does something to mom? We can't leave her alone. Thanks to her we have these suits and are really invulnerable. So, what the heck are you waiting for? Mom can't come and tell you what to do. We have to action into our own hands. And I'm definitely not going to sit around waiting." "She is right, I'm afraid," Lexi agreed.

Kara and her children were floating a few meters above the floor of the DEO balcony. Kara looked into four determined faces. Lisa's speech had also convinced Lizzy.

Lisa hit the bull's eye. Because Kara was also worried about her wife. Finally, she nodded: "Ok, but you follow my command. If I say flee, you flee. If I tell you to hold back, you hold back."

Lisa didn't wait a moment longer and took off. The other three agreed to the conditions and followed her lead. 

Kara thought briefly about her wife and hoped that she would not regret this decision.

*******

Lisa hardly noticed that she hit something when she shot through the exit of the tunnel. But she heard the unmistakable thump of a head slamming roughly against the hard ground.  
She forgot about it the moment she saw her mother kneeling over her Jeju, who looked unconscious and badly injured.  
Then she noticed the green light that lit up the cave, as it did on her first visit.

Liam had also spotted his mother bending over his wounded Jeju but was then distracted by a shadow that had half slipped behind a boulder. It had stopped midway and now two green eyes were staring at him.

He made a step towards the little rock. Shyly he asked: "Mom?"

And then the woman, who was very similar to his mother, just looked a bit younger, passed out, and would have landed roughly on the floor if she had not been caught by Lexi at the last second.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading, commenting, and giving your kudos!
> 
> The story will be a bit longer than expected. The plot stands, but the characters in it have more to say than I thought.


	14. The fate of superheros

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here is some reading material for the long election night/election day, which people all over the world are following with great concern but also with hope.
> 
> Trigger warning: violent and sometimes sexualized violent language
> 
> This chapter is not one bit fluffy but goes in the direction of a psychological thriller. The next chapter will be mostly hurt/comfort, and the last chapters are gonna be fluffy. I promise!
> 
> Ah - and at one point Kara channels her inner Waverly (tiny Wynonna Earp reference).

_Island, Cave, 27 years in the past_

The green light of the Kryptonite cast a ghostly filter over the scenery in the cave. It potentiated the tense atmosphere and added something eerie and dramatic to all actions.

Lexi had crouched down, the head of the person who would one day be her mother resting on their lap. Lena's eyelids fluttered restlessly, still closed. Liam also knelt beside her and was holding her hand carefully.

Lena Sr. and Lisa took care of Kara Jr., whose skin color had normalized but who was still breathing heavily.

After making sure that her Lena was unharmed and that her former self was also well looked after, Kara Sr. had flown out of the cave.  
She had traced a well-known heartbeat in a room behind the cave. Her sister must be here too. Kara knew it had to be the younger version of Alex and wasn't surprised to find her close to Kara Jr. and Lena.

She heard at least four more heartbeats but could not relate them. She guessed that they belonged to agents of the DEO.

Lizzy had noticed her mother had disappeared through the tunnel and decided to follow her. She wasn't exactly sure what made her mother leave the cave. But she too heard the pulse of several people.

Soon they met the first agents clad in black uniforms. Some had built small groups. All of them were pale, silent and a few had obviously vomited.

Her mother suddenly stopped and leaned over to a woman with red hair. Soon the two were in each other's arms, and Lizzy realized that the woman was her aunt Alex.

And then they heard a scream from the cave.

Alex looked at her sister, confused: "I can hear you scream, but your mouth doesn't move. Oh no, it starts again." Alex’s body began to shake all over.

Kara hugged her tightly: “Alex, listen to me. Listen to me. I am fine. I must find out what's going on. But I'm fine. It's over." Kara hated to lie to her sisters, but she also knew that Alex wasn’t in a mental state of mind for the more bad news.

There was another scream.

Kara looked at her daughter and then at Alex. "This is Lizzy. She will stay with you. Do not worry. Everything will be fine. I'm so sorry, but I must go back. Everything will be fine Alex. Please, you have to believe me."

Alex's body calmed down a bit. Lizzy moved cautiously towards her aunt. Lizzy had a talent for sensing emotions, soothing people, or stabilizing them emotionally. She crouched down next to her aunt and very carefully touched her arm to anchor her.

Another scream.

"I'll stay, you can go Jeju. Please be careful."

"I will, dear. I'll be right back." Kara sat up, kissed her daughter on the forehead, and looked one last time into Alex's eyes before she turned and flew back towards the cave.

Alex looked so much younger than the version Lizzy knew. Even her voice when she said. "Who are you, and why do you have Lena Luthor's face, but my sister's powers?" Alex was fighting her heavy tongue and the knots in her mind.

"We'll explain everything to you later. But first, let me sew this cut here. And then maybe you can explain to me first where we are and why you, Kara, and Lena are here. Is that ok with you?"

And because Alex didn't argue, Lizzy started to clean her aunt's wounds with the first aid kit that each of them had attached to their suits in case something like this happened.

In the back of her mind, Alex wondered where the young woman had come from and how her sister knew her. But since Kara trusted her and Alex felt the need to be of some use in this situation, she cleared her throat and began to tell Lizzy about the unusual radiation.

In the cave, Kara's screams of pain had turned back into whimpers. Although Lena's medicine had stabilized her circulation and considerably weakened the effects of the kryptonite, the pain had come back when the green glimmer suddenly intensified. Kara felt like being maltreated by many small daggers.

Fortunately, the other Kryptonians wore their special suits and didn't feel the impact of the weapon.

Lexi fumbled in a panic on the right outside of her suit. After a few seconds, she held a golden bracelet in her hands, which she put around the whimpering heroine's wrist.

And immediately, a silvery suit closed over Kara's body like a shield. Her whimpering fell immediately.

Lena Jr. chose this moment to wake up and asked while slowly sitting up: "Where is Lex?"

All eyes were on Kara. Now they turned to Lena, who was staring at an empty pool of blood on the floor.

And then Kara and Lena Sr. also noticed that Lex was gone.

***********

"Fudgenuggets," said Kara Jr., while several "shits" echoed through the cave.

Lisa and Lena Sr. had instinctively shielded Kara Jr. with their bodies. She felt a lot better since the suit had closed around her body.  
Lexi and Liam were standing by Lena Jr. to protect the tired-looking woman.

The newcomers hadn't noticed Lex even being there, suspected Lena Sr That's why she started to explain: "I don't know what conclusions you came to while looking or the time-tunnels. But we now know for sure that Lex is behind all this. He was here. Lena over there shot him. You can see some blood over there. It's his. "

"If he was wounded, he can't be very far," Liam tried to enlighten the mood with hope.

"It's Lex," replied the Lenas.

“And we're the only ones who can take him down. So, give me all your brilliant ideas,” demanded Lisa.

"By the way, where are Kara and Lizzy?" asked Liam.

“I'm pretty sure they were looking for Alex. She's at the end of this corridor with the other DEO agents. Lex took them out with a machine that made them believe their worst nightmares. I think Kara and Lizzy found her. At least her heart rate has calmed down," Kara said.

"Alex is here. Cool. I would love to get to know her, so young and everything," Liam was absolutely thrilled.

"Before you can get to know our aunty being young, we must first find our uncle and neutralize him," said Lisa dryly.

"I hope Lex didn't escape the time tunnel," Lexi replied.

"That is impossible. We would have noticed. The portal cannot be used secretly. There is always a lot of noise when someone is inside," explained Lena Sr.

"Well, that's a relief," Liam continued trying to spread optimism.

"We'd better secure it before he sneaks behind us to jump in. Though he's losing so much blood and might not survive the trip, ..., oh god, what is that, I can barely breathe ... " Lena Jr.'s face slowly turned from pale to blue.

"I can't breathe," croaked Lena Sr., whose skin now had a similar color.

"Mom," Liam yelled in a panicked voice. Both Lenas gasped.

Kara Jr. looked around helplessly at Lena. Still weakened herself, stood up, and began to widen Lena's collar. But that didn't seem to have any positive effect on Lena's ability to breathe.

"We have to get them away," Lexi called. She grabbed her mother, who barely reacted. Outwardly almost relaxed, she said to her brother: "You take the other Lena. We'll get her out of here. Follow me. Now." And Liam sprinted off, grabbed the young woman, and ran after his sister to the gate. Seconds later, the four disappeared.

Lisa and Kara Jr. stood alone in the cave. The looks they exchanged were torn between the desire to follow the others and the obligation to stay to find Lex to finally end this nightmare.

Lisa was the first to speak: "They have Lexi and Liam. Mom will be ok." Her words sounded unsure and a bit forced. "And they have the DEO specialists," Kara replied not much more convincing.

They both wanted to make sure that Lena was alright, but they also knew that they were needed to fulfill a different task.

"We should go after Lex!"

"Yeah. Let's silence that bastard once and for all." Kara Jr. had never been angrier and more determined in her life. All of this had to come to an end. Lex had to end.

"We should check on Lizzy and Kara first," says Lisa.

They flew back into the room at the end of the long corridor. They also met agents who were slowly waking up. Most of them wept silently.

Lizzy was sitting next to Alex, speaking soothing words of comfort to the woman who was still in emotional pain. Alex cried when she saw her sister. This time it was her real sister. They hugged for a long time.

"Where's Jeju?" Lisa asked her sister. "I thought she was with you," Lizzy replied, and a cold shiver ran down her spine. “She flew back to you at least fifteen minutes ago. We heard Kara scream, and she went back to help. "

"She didn't come back," Lisa's words made the two sisters' stomach clench.

"Lex," they whispered.

"Can you hear her heartbeat?" Lizzy asked Lisa, whose hearing was better than hers. Lisa`s body tension changed immediately. She concentrated on the noises around her.

"Come with me," Lisa put Lizzy, who was still crouching, on her feet and floated off. "Wait Lisa, my legs fell asleep."

But Lisa had no time for something like that. She simply flew back and dragged Lizzy after her to the far end of the room to a locked iron door. There was no knob or handle. " Something is behind that. I have no idea what - but there's something."

All of Kara's children had inherited her powers. But they were differently pronounced in each of them. Physically they weren't as strong as their mother, but much stronger than a human.

Lisa tried to bend the door, which turned out to be impossible. Lex must know the limits of their strength well. Impatiently Lisa turned around to her sister: "Slit the damn thing with your laser."

Lizzy followed the request and cut a large piece out of the door, her laser sliding like a warm knife through a thin layer of ice.

Lisa didn't wait for the metal to cool and climbed through the opening. Again, Lizzy followed without hesitation.

They were standing in a small corridor and front of another thick door. Lizzy used her heat vision once again.

What they found behind that door was the cruelest thing they had ever seen in their whole lives.

The room had a floor space of approximately 20 square meters and bare concrete walls. Half of it was paved with screens. They learned that surveillance cameras were installed in every corner of this underground building.  
Which wasn't such a big surprise. What made them puke almost immediately was the smell of a creature lying on a hospital bed in the right corner of the room. It was to be a man, more dead than alive. Several infusions kept the dying body alive. The cheeks were sunk deep into his face, the skull almost visible. A messy stubble of red beard covered his chin and temples, like rust on ashen leather.

"This is Uncle Lex," Lisa said in disbelief. "Or what's left of him."

"Oh my god. For all I know about him, he's a terrifying person. But who the hell did this to him?" Lisa was shocked.  
Lizzy had averted her gaze from the dying human. That's how she had noticed the little black Moleskin book. Without thinking, she took a step towards it, picked it up, and opened it: “Hey, Lisa. This is from Lex, I guess the other Lex, the older one. These are notes. About us, about mom and Jeju, about how best to kill us. How to stop mom from getting us in the first place. And how he would like to take revenge on his former self. How far he could go. How much he could make his former self atone for mistakes without killing it because that would also kill his current self. Oh dear God. Alex told us our uncle was crazy, but that is far beyond cruel. "

They heard a scream. "That was Jeju," Lisa said in a panic. "He's here. He's torturing her. We have to find her."

"Come," Lizzy said, taking her sister's hand while she tucked the book into her suit.

Lizzy had seen something conspicuous on one of the screens. She dragged her sister back to the corridor that led to the cave with the time tunnel.

She stayed very far to the right at the tunnel entrance.  
"It has to be here somewhere." "But that's just the tunnel."  
"No, there is something here. I'm sure. I saw it on the screen. Ah.... - you can feel it, Lisa - here - I'm touching it. There is a wall, even if I don't see one." Lizzy's hands touched the air as if she were a pantomime.

Lisa stepped next to her younger sister. She put her hands next to Lizzy's and immediately felt something solid, concrete-like under her fingertips.

Lisa put her head against the transparent wall.  
“O no, I can hear her. This is mom. She's crying. " In an instant, Lisa became very hectic and shouted: "Mom, we're coming."  
She started to punch against the invisible wall. But it wouldn't give in. The knuckles on her fists were already cracked. They left bloody marks in the air.

Suddenly there was Kara Jr. next to them. Hitting the unknown material full force, a large crack appeared in the wall. This triggered a chemical reaction, and the wall turned milky white.

Lizzy could hear the sobs of her Jeju too.

*********  
_Twenty minutes earlier_

Kara Sr. had just said goodbye to Lizzy and Alex and was arching into the tunnel when she heard her younger self scream again.

She was about to increase the speed when something very hard stopped her abruptly. She wasn't used to flying against something that wouldn't yield or that felt ice cold. She couldn't see it either. The air had somehow become a barrier.

She tried to find an exit but quickly realized that she was already enclosed by it. Kara realized: She was trapped.

And then the high-pitched giggle of Lex Luthor whispered across the room and fell like an icy hand on the back of her neck. For the first time in a very long time, Kara Sr. was really scared.

“Look who's tapped into the net. So predictable, so weak, so stupid ... hihihi. "Lex sounded like the villain of a cheap comic movie.

“I told you that your arrogance would be your undoing. And I was right. Hihi. "Suddenly the tone of voice changed and now had a squeaking command tone: "Scum, it is time to bow to your master. So, kneel. "

Again Kara was looking for a way to escape, but this time she felt a weight that pushed her down and even made standing upright an act of strength.

"Never," she said through gritted teeth.

"Well, how do you like it to really feel the weight of the world on your shoulders, fake heroine? I think you will soon give up your arrogant behavior. I'll make you, hehe. "

So far, Kara had been in the dark tunnel entrance, which was only illuminated by a few LED lights. Now a kind of spotlight went on and basically made Kara's prison the auditorium for something that happened behind the former tunnel wall. As if the right wall of the tunnel had opened.

She also noticed that her cell and the other room were separated from each other by a transparent wall.

The light grew even brighter, turned bluish, and drew attention to a body that seemed to be hanging upside down from the ceiling. Kara was shocked to see her wife's long, brown hair that hung down, almost touching the floor. Blood dripped from a wound on her stomach, pearled down her chest, down her pale throat, and finally seeped into her hair, which was already sticky.

"It's just an illusion. It's a lie, you're trying to frighten me, but it won't work." Kara stayed calm on the outside, but even if this was just another of Lex's tricks, it was terrible to see Lena like that.

"Not enough? I see." Lex's voice sounded highly satisfied. "I have more for you."

And with that another room became visible. Her two older daughters were sitting on black chairs, both in burlesque clothes. The light was deep red. It was evident what a fate Lex envisioned for his nieces.

When they saw Kara, they turned their faces to the glass and immediately began to sob heavily.

"Get us out of here, mom," Lexi begged.

"Today I had to serve twenty, mom, everything hurts," cried Lisa.

“Mom, I was the best in class, I wanted to change the world for the better, but now they're changing me. Every day, little by little, "said Lexi. All emotion escaped from her eyes, her gaze went blank.

Kara had started to cry but kept repeating: "It's not true, these are all just lies. All you have is lies, lies, lies ..."

“Alien, you're finally going to pay for what you did to my family. For seducing my sister. For making her bear these creatures. Which will pay for being alive every day from now on until they die. Because they are abominations. And young. And quite handsome. I think my men will enjoy them for a while," etched Lex.

He almost exulted: “But I have more for you. Hihihihi. Your little ones. I have a special purpose for your little ones.

Another room was lit. Liam and Lizzy were lying on two medical beds. They were naked, several instruments and needles stuck in her flesh. One put in Lizzy's left eye. Liam's head was shaved, a tube stuck in his brain, the bone plate removed.

She didn't even notice the commotion from the other side of the icy wall. But then she thought she heard her youngest daughter's voice. More than she really understood, she sensed that it wasn't coming from the young woman behind the glass window, but from somewhere behind her. And then she was grabbed by two strong arms and held very tightly.

“Yes, mom, it's a lie, I'm fine. We are all doing well. We're fine,” the voice of her youngest was calming her. The second pair of arms wrapped around her belonged to Lisa.

The relief that flowed through her soon turned into anger: "Where is he?"

"We don't know, but your younger doppelganger is already chasing him," said Lisa, her voice as thick as Kara had never heard her say.  
"No, I'm here," everyone turned to Kara Jr., "I think I know where he's hiding. I saw him sneak down the corridor. There must be an exit over there or something. But we have to hurry, otherwise, he'll slip away from us again."

Under Kara Jr.'s guidance, they flew back to the jump gate but turned sharply right into a niche that turned out to be another low tunnel which ended in front of a door protected with kryptonite.

The greenish stone had no effect on them wearing their protective suits. With one dauntless blow, Kara Sr. smashed the door. She was angrier than ever in her life.

And sometimes, chance or fate or whatever you want to call it means well with the heroes of a story.

Because Lex crouched behind that door. His short soaked in blood. But that hadn't stopped him from escaping.

A simple short circuit had prevented him from opening the second door that would have led him to his getaway vehicle.

Now he was the one trapped.

Kara Sr.'s eyes began to glow, her laser ready to kill. But she was stopped by her junior version: “Not in front of the children. I know he has to go once and for all, but not here. "

Kara Sr. nodded but put on him the special handcuffs made by Lena.

It was time for Lizzy and Lisa to go home.  
They accepted the decision of her mother, following them after she got rid of Lex. They were tired and now that the tension had eased a little, concern for their other mother became very present again.

Kara Sr. hugged both of them and kissed their cheeks: "I'll be with you soon. But first I have to make sure that HE will never hurt you, your siblings, your mother, or anybody in our family again. Tell mom I'll be back in no time. "

Lisa and Lizzy also hugged the woman who would one day be their Jeju. They didn't know if they would ever see her so young again. A tear ran down Kara Jr.'s cheek: "I can't wait to see you all again."

Then the two young women jumped into the time tunnel.


	15. TOMORROW THE FUTURE WILL BE THE PAST

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This election really isn't for the faint of heart. I keep my fingers crossed for democracy - it hurts to watch from a distance.  
> Free hugs for everyone in need of one.
> 
> Here is a new chapter for those who want to keep themselves awake or distracted, but of cause also for everyone else. There's a big reunion in the DEO's hospital wing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are nearing the end of the story. Two, maybe three chapters are still to come.  
> Thanks to everyone who has motivated me so wonderfully so far!

_Medical bay at the DEO, future_

When Lisa and Lizzy passed the gateway to the future, Alex and a small DEO team were waiting for them. They wanted to provide Lisa and Lizzy with high-calorie beverages and snacks. But both women initially refused because they had other things on their minds.

Before they even hugged her aunt, Lizzy asked: "How is Mom? Is Lena ok?"

"They are doing well under the circumstances. Your mother is almost on her feet again. Lena was hit a little harder," Alex sounded confident, but her eyes showed great concern.

"We want to see her," said Lisa. Alex answered: "Of course. We'll fly there immediately. Come on, the helicopter is ready. "Flying by ourselves would be faster ... ", Lisa objected.

"Yes, but it is broad daylight, and you are pretty exhausted. Come on, it won't take more than 30 minutes like this."

As soon as they took their places in the black helicopter, Lisa said: "We caught him. Lex, we have him. Jeju stayed with Kara. They will ..." Lisa had never had such difficulty formulating her thoughts. The horror of the last few hours was still too present, to name another terrible act. She knew that her mother had only one thing in mind, and that was to protect her family. Nobody believed that there could be a prison that was safe enough to render Lex harmless. He would always find a way to threaten them or even to escape.

"They will make sure he never comes back," whispered Lizzy.

It would take a while before anyone would hear Lizzy's voice again.

Alex didn't push for details. Liam and Lexi had already explained the situation up to the point where they had jumped into the tunnel. She knew that her nieces would also talk when they felt like it. It would take Lizzy a little longer, but Lisa would soon have a great need to retell everything.

Halfway through the flight, Lisa noticed how leaden tiredness spread inside her. It says a lot about the pace of life when your adrenaline levels drop during time travel. But that was what had happened. And now that they knew that their mother was doing ok, something had loosened inside her. And when they started to land, Lisa was silently crying. Lizzy, on the other hand, stared emotionless out of the window as the roof of the DEO came closer and closer.

Alex sent them to the washroom with fresh towels and soft clothes.  
After they had showered an out on the pants and Hoddie they finally drank the calorie shake they had been offered a while ago.

Alex explained to them that both Lenas were still being treated in the DEO's medical department. The poison had weakened their lungs. They would be in an artificial coma for a while, but they would live.

Lizzy hardly listened, Lisa cried and sobbed again:  
“So, we could have lost both. What kind of brother does this to his own sister? She could have died, and we weren't even there with her. "

"Hey, hey Babygirl," Alex tried to comfort her. "I know it's terrible, and I have no words to correctly describe this man. But I know your mothers are the strongest women I know. And they love you and your siblings so much. And you all will heal together. " Alex gently stroked the hair off her niece's face.

"Come on, we're going to her. Liam and Lexi are really looking forward to seeing you again."

************  
A few minutes later, the three of them entered one of the DEO's hospital rooms.

The room was lit by the light that came through two medium-sized windows. Between the windows stood two hospital beds, in each of which one of the Lenas lay - motionless and pale. The brown hair contrasted strongly with the white of the bedding.

Both were connected to monitors via various electrodes, which checked their vital functions. They were supplied with painkillers and water through their arm veins. The younger of the two was also artificially ventilated. Her blood values were still critical.

Liam sat next to his mother and held a pale hand in his. Lexi was sitting next to him and was holding a novel. It was one of her mother's favorites. Apparently, she had read it out loud until a few moments ago.

Kelly, Alex's wife, sat in the chair next to the younger Lena.

“What exactly did he do to them?” Lisa asked.

Without a word of hello, Lisa stood next to her siblings and studied the face of her mother. Lizzy sat down on an armchair near Kelly.

Lexi looked over at her and then at the younger patient: “Mom has always been so beautiful. She looks so young, and somehow you can feel that she is lonely. Every time I think about she was alone until mom showed up, just surrounded by people like Lex, makes me so sad. And who does something like that to their own sister? Who poisons the people he is supposed to protect and love?"

"What did he poison her with?" asked Lisa.

Alex answered: "A poison that especially attacks the bodies of human women. It interrupts the exchange of oxygen in their lungs but also docks to the hormone estrogen. This is one of the reasons why your mother is less affected by it than her younger self. She is 27 years older. Her estrogen level is lower than a woman in her twenties. We tried to wash the poison out of their systems and are very sure they will recover. "

Alex exhaled heavily: "The poison not only destroys the estrogen. It also causes small inflammations in the uterus and ovaries. It is crucial to healing these quickly to prevent the tissue from scarring. She'll survive, but what we don't know for sure is whether she'll keep her ability to have children. "

Alex had said the last sentence in a flat voice.

The silence that followed was broken only by the constant suction of the ventilator. The siblings knew what Alex's explanation meant for them.

If Lena lost the ability to get pregnant, they would never exist and therefore soon begone without anybody noticing.

Lexi and Lisa both hated situations that they couldn't actively shape. The concern for their mother and the need to be close to her had determined their thoughts and feelings.

But now they both got jittery. So, the fate of the Luthor-Danvers siblings was now in the hands of doctors and luck. But there was still something they could do.

"We should go and close the gates," Lexi said.

"We can't close the gates, not yet-mom has to be brought back to her time first," Lisa looked irritated at her sister, who usually thought things through. “And what about Mama? She hasn't returned yet!"

"Maybe it's best if mom can't have us," Lizzy said in a flat voice.

"Why, what do you mean by that?" Lexi asked angrily.

"If she doesn't get us, Lex has no reason to hurt her. He hates us, not his sister," Lizzy replied in the same monotonous timbre.

"He tried to kill her before she had us," argued Lisa.

“But he had no reason to do what he did to her now. You heard him. He had gone mad because she had us. He would have spared her if she hadn't become the mother of aliens," Lizzy continued.

"Lizzy, sweetheart", Alex knelt in front of Lizzy, who had made herself very small and was crouching on the armchair. “None of this is your fault. It's all his fault. You are the best that happened to your mothers. They would never want you to think that way ... "

"... but they can't even hear us," Lizzy suddenly got louder.  
"Mom is in a coma. Jeju wanders through a different timeline. Do we know if she will ever return to us? If we weren't here, both would be fine. They would both be together and well ..." Lizzy was crying bitterly now.

Lexi got up from the edge of the bed and walked over to her little sister and tried to hug her. Lizzy struggled with her hands and forehead, pushing Lexi away from her. But her older sister just hugged her tighter until Lizzy stopped fighting: "Jeju will be back soon. Mom will be well soon. Everything will be fine, Lizzy, everything will be fine. Promise." Lisa had sneaked up too and put her arms around her sisters and whispered: "El Mahayar. "

*************  
After Lizzy collapsed, her older sisters looked after her. They spoke softly to her, made sure that she ate something, persuaded her to lay down on the couch, and then Lexi had massaged her temples until she fell asleep.

Kelly had gone home to her children. Alex was staying at the DEO because she had to work on other operations.

As soon as Lizzy was asleep, Lexi and Lisa had started to exchange information. Mainly about the events that had occurred after their storylines had been separated.

Then Lisa had grabbed Lexi's book, sat down on a chair between the two beds, and started to read from it to the two unconscious Lenas. Lexi had fallen asleep on the armchair on which Lizzy had previously sat.

A little later, Lisa also closed her eyes and laid her head on her mother's bed.

Alex had offered them beds in other rooms, but they didn't want to leave her mother.

A couple of hours later, they were awakened by a shy knock on the door.

"Who's there?" Lexi asked. "It's Jeju," Lisa said, who had recognized her mother by her heartbeat, with a relieved smile.  
Kara wasn't alone. 

She'd brought her younger self with her.  
They looked like zombies, were tired, dirty, and pale. Both shivered.

But they got a new burst of energy when they finally saw the children and the Lenas.

Kara Jr. greeted the children briefly and then rushed towards her Lena. The thought of what they were for each other or what they would be for one another was not significant at the moment. The only thing of importance was Lena being here. Lena getting well again.

Her older version was hugged by Lisa and Lexi. Lizzy had to really wake up first. Kara sat down next to her youngest daughter, smiled at her, and said: "My little one. I've missed all of you so much. I thank Rao that you are fine. I feel so lost without my babies? Lisa, Lexi - come over here. Your Jeju needs a family hug. "

After a few tears had flowed and Kara had given all her children plenty of, kisses on the cheek and forehead, she sat up. Then she turned to her sleeping wife. She walked to her, caressed her temple, stroked her face. There was so much tenderness in her gaze that Lisa would have cut out a few sarcastic remarks at any other time.

"Baby. It's over. Forever. And we're all fine. Your daughters are here, I'm here. Take a rest, my beautiful. And you wake up, we're going home, baby." Kara Sr. had taken Lena's hand and gently ran her thumb over the back of her wife's fingers and kissed them gently.

The younger Kara sat there unconsciously mirror the scene. She didn't say anything, though.

"Kara, let's take a shower. I assume we smell really awful. And then I could eat. And we'll need a couple of hours of sleep," Kara Sr. nodded invitingly to the other hero.

Addressing her children, she said: "I'm here now and take care of her. So, lie down a bit too. We can talk later, okay?"

Lexi, Lisa, and Lizzy agreed, said goodbye to their still motionless mother, and also to the Karas. Lizzy even went over to young Lena and squeezed her hand.

After the Karas had showered, were dressed in fresh clothes, and had eaten, Kara Sr. sneaked into the room where her girls were sleeping. They had pushed two beds together to cuddle. Kara kissed them goodnight like she used to do when they were little.

Then she crept back into the room where her wife was sleeping and carefully lay down next to her.

In the dark light, she could see that her younger self was already there. She sat in a chair and held Lena's hand.

"You need to get some sleep," whispered Kara Sr.

"Yes, in a moment," Kara Jr. answered. After some minutes had passed, she laid down her head and fell asleep. Tightly clasping Lena's hand.

*************  
It took another 27 hours for Lena Sr. to wake up and another day for the younger Lena to open her eyes as well. Lena Sr. was doing fine, but Lena Jr.'s blood values were still not a hundred percent okay.

There was hope that she would recover without any serious consequences. A few scarrings in the ovaries could not be prevented. But that probably wouldn't affect her fertility. The three girls were living proof of this theory.

When she was stable enough - another 24 hours later - they decided to send her back in time. She and Kara Jr. had been in the future for quite a while now, and they didn't want to risk the time corridors becoming unstable after all.

Since the time machine was still in the past, they would have to travel by time tunnel. Kara Jr. had used the gate one more time to make sure her sister was okay, even though Alex was healthy in the here and now. Which, as well known, was a perfect indicator of her well-being in the past.

Lex underground facilities had been completely cleared out by the DEO and now were heavily guarded. There was no trace of either Lex, and Alex hadn't asked her sister what had happened to them.

The theories about how all of this had been orchestrated were confirmed by the book that Lizzy had found. Fifteen years ago, Lex had been working with dark matter. One of his experiments had gone wrong. He was catapulted through time and space - still being covered in dark matter - creating the tunnel that way. He had been found by a person who had nursed him back to life.

But in the future, he had no resources, nor many friends. Filled with rage, one night, he had decided to end his sister once and for all. Which led to being thrown into space by Kara. Which had created another time tunnel. Cheer luck that he had interpreted as a sign from God to fulfill his destiny ending all Supers, including their spawn. Being also very self-centered, he had taken revenge on his former self. Just keeping him alive, to stay alive.

The girls wanted to know how the Karas had ended Lex. But they wouldn't tell them. All they repeated was he would never come back.

Besides the time when she went back to check on her sister, Kara Jr. didn't leave Lena's Jr. side. They hadn't talked about anything yet. But there was a peacefulness about them they both seemed to need right now.

When the Lenas said goodbye to each other, the older of the two made her younger self promise that she would destroy the time machine. And that she would do so the minute she got back to her time. Lena wanted to make sure that none of Lex's minions would use her invention to go back in time and allow Lex to make another comeback.

The DEO had destroyed Lex's terrorist cell in the past and in the future, but it was always possible that one or two of his willing henchmen had escaped.

“Maybe we should keep the time machine. Lex might have another trick up his sleeve?" suggested Lisa.

“No, I want it to be gone. If necessary, I'll build a new one," Lena stuck to her decision.

"Can WE destroy the time tunnels as soon as Lena and Kara have safely traveled to their time?" Lexi asked.

"Hey, that's a good idea. I think it would do really good to somehow finish this ourselves," agreed Lisa eagerly.

Lizzy had already thought about it, too: "I have an idea of how it can be done."

Their parents looked at each other longer.

"Oh my god, they are doing it again," Lisa teased.

  
"You're just jealous because you have no one to talk to without using words like that," Lexi shot back. At that moment, Lisa missed someone who would have laughed with her.

Finally, Kara and Lena senior agreed to their daughters' wishes.

"What about our memories?" asked the younger Lena, her voice sounding rough and a little breathless. "Did you find a solution for this challenge too?"

"I can delete it if you want?" said Lena Sr.

Lena slowly turned her green eyes on the young women she had only recently learned were her children.

Timidly she spoke: "I want to get to know you when it's time to. I want to do this, I mean us, the right way. I want to want you because I want you, not because I know I have to want you. Sorry please - I know that sounds so so selfish. But Lena, I can see how much you love being their mother. And I want to be that woman first - and I don't think I can when I know about all of you, all of this," now she was looking at Kara Jr. "It's wrong, right? I can't risk them not being born." Lena was breathing increasingly harder.

"Hey," said Kara Jr. softly, "I understand. These are all perfect reasons. You have the right to want to decide." "I think you don't quite understand. It's not so much about the decision. I want to be able to love them, the way she can." Lena pointed to Lena Sr. "Right now, I'm way too broken to be a good mother. And I want to heal without the prospect of getting something out of it. It feels so selfish to say I need to forget about them but also wrong to know about them."

"We understand," said Lexi. "We're not angry with you because you want to heal first before you get to know us," Lisa added. "We are the children of the Paragon of Hope," Lizzy stated.  
"Everything will turn out as it should. We'll meet again," Lexi concluded. All three hugged Lena and Kara junior. And for the first time in her life, Lena Jr. felt something like confidence in her heart.

The superheroine Sr. had never been more proud of her children.

"Actually, I would also recommend erasing the memory. It wouldn't be safe to take such profound knowledge of the future to the past," future Lena said.

"See, you don't even have a choice. Or I mean, you do have a choice. Because you will forget about all of this. You don't even have to love me," Kara Jr. escaped a bad joke, caused by her own insecurities.  
  
Lena Jr. impulsively pressed her lips to those of her best friend, her soul mate, the woman she knew for sure would always be the love of her life. "Oh, Kara, you are an idiot."

***********

Kara flew her wife home to get the memory eraser.

After Kara had set Lena down on the balcony, she hugged her for a long time.

Lena knew what was going through her wife's mind. "We will find each other again," Lena whispered, her lips pressed to the neck of her alien.

"I love you. That will never change,“ Lena promised.

  
Kara smiled and kissed the soft raven hair.

"I hope so. Because you are everything to me."


	16. Perfection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara and Lena make an important decision

_Luthor-Danvers mansion, 16 years ago_

It was an ordinary summer Sunday in the Luthor-Danvers family home. Kara, Lena, and the three girls had a great day in the sun.

In the garden, there was a large swimming pool with a slide. After an almost healthy lunch, mountains of ice cream had been plastered - especially by the Kryptonians. Some had read a few pages of their current favorite book - which was especially true for the human.

In the afternoon, Alex, Kelly, their daughter Hunter, and son Sam had joined them. Hunter was a little older than Lisa, and Sam was only 18 months younger.

There had been a big water fight from which Lena and Kelly withdrew very quickly. Instead, the two had spent a few untroubled moments in the shade enjoying a cocktail. Meanwhile, Alex and Kara, as usual, plunged into the middle of the crowd.

After a while, Lizzy had fled to her mother. The hustle and bustle were a bit too much for the two-year-old. Lena had cuddled her in a thin fabric. She held her in her arms while she continued to chat with Kelly.

In the evening, they had pizza for everyone. Sam and Hunter were still amazed at how much their cousins could eat. But they stopped trying to keep up. Not that they hadn't tried. But all attempts had ended with quite severe abdominal pain.

By eight, Alex and her family went home - exhausted but very happy. After they left, Lizzy was put to bed. She was half asleep on Kara's arm before.

And then, Lisa and Lexi could watch a film with their mothers.

When all the children fell asleep, Kara and Lena enjoyed a nightcap on their terrace. Cuddled together on their cozy garden couch, they watched the stars, talked, touched a lot, and simply enjoyed being together.

Lena took another sip of her red wine, looked at the starry sky, and suddenly said: "I want one more."

"One more of what?" Kara couldn't follow her wife's thoughts.

Lena continued to fixate on the stars but took Kara's hand and gently stroked her fingers: "I can't tell you why, but I have the feeling that something is missing. No, I mean someone is missing."

Lena looked at her visibly astonished wife and waved with the hand that was not holding her wife, the rest of the wine in slow little circles before she put the glass down. She looked Kara straight in the eye: "I know it's not rational, Kara, and you know that I hardly do anything irrational. But there is this feeling in me, and it is growing, keeping me up at night, and getting stronger and stronger."

"Baby, what are you talking about?" Kara looked lovingly and patiently at the love of her life.

"I want another child," Lena finally said. "I know that I can't have another one by myself. And I know I should be grateful that we have the girls, despite my condition. Especially that we have Lizzy. Everyone said that having her was a miracle. I'm thankful - you know that, but there is this longing, this secure feeling of missing someone. Someone who would become part of our family soon. It sounds a bit crazy, I know. But that's what it feels like. "

Kara sighed. She was not against another child. And it was strange, but in fact, she understood the feeling her wife had just described. She had had it too. But she had pushed it aside. Thinking that it originated from her desire to let as much of Krypton live on as possible. Above all, she loved children and had always dreamed of having a big family.

"We could adopt?" suggested Kara. Lena smiled at her and kissed her lightly on the mouth. "So, you're not against it?" "As if I were ever against more kids in the house," Kara replied immediately.

"Darling, thinking about that I sometimes envy that you are blessed with Kryptonian energy." "As if the Luthor's had ever been not equal in that department. Besides, after having my babies, you now are 4.5% Kryptonian. Otherwise, Lizzy would not be here. Without your better healing, you would not have recovered sufficiently after Lisa's birth. Oh Rao, was I worried about you. Every time! We don't do that again, Lena! If you toy with the idea of getting pregnant another time, I won't agree! "

"No, I don't. I haven't forgotten about the risk we took when we decided to keep Lizzy after we learned about her. Though it wasn't as if we had consciously tried to make another child. If I remember correctly, you were not innocent of events that lead to her! Plus, you know that for several months I worked on nothing but a way to prevent another pregnancy after we had her. Having said that...," she made a short break, "I'm not against adoption. But I know that it must be biologically our child. Do you think I'm greedy or crazy? "

"Crazy no, greedy - maybe a little," grinned Kara. Lena hit her arm vigorously. "Darling, I'm serious."

Kara was sitting up straight. "So, what have you been thinking about? You already have an idea, haven't you? You know that I can't carry a child on earth. Especially when it is half-human."

"We could use krypton technology," burst Lena out.

"The birthing matrix? Why haven't we ever thought about it before?” exclaimed Kara. "We never had the necessities and I loved being pregnant ..."

Kara rolled her eyes: "I won't understand how you keep forgetting how much you hated it sometimes ..."

"I know, I know - but all I remember is it was marvelous. Ok, it was difficult sometimes. But it was also wonderful to feel them growing inside of me. It was magical."

Kara kissed her wife again. "Yes, it was magical to feel them move in your stomach."

Kara leaned back against the back of the couch, more relaxed.

"Ok let's do it. Let's make a baby - the Kryptonian way."

Lena's smile turned into a big grin. She leaned over to Kara and whispered in her ear: "Yes, but let's do it the human way first."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story will soon come to an end. Thank you for accompanying me this far. Should there be any unanswered questions: always bring them on!


	17. In the end

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The End.....

_Graduation day, present_

"Darling, did you see my turquoise-colored necklace?" Lena asked, standing on one foot, the second high-heel in her hand while looking for the missing piece of jewelry.

“The one we bought in Berlin?” Kara asked back.

“Yes. And can you please tell Liam to turn the music down - or at least ask him to close the door? One of the reasons we made it soundproof was, so he can destroy his ears without cutting my nerves."

Kara wiped the spaghetti sauce off her chin with a damp cloth before trotting up the stairs to the second floor.

Twenty minutes after the well-dressed and unfairly attractive family was standing in the hallway. Kara helped her wife into the elegant deep blue coat, who had straightened Liam's bow tie.

Kara wore a red fitted coat. This color combination was often and consciously worn in the Luthor-Danvers household.

They paid respect to Kara's Kryptonian origin that way. Because only the closest confidants of the two knew of Kara's true identity.

However, the circle of the closest had expanded significantly over the years. They had made new friends. And it had been impossible to prevent Lena's immediate professional environment from knowing.

Some had combined sharply, others had caught Lena and Supergirl in flagranti. And those quickly understood that Lena wasn't cheating on her wife, but that her wife was obviously also the most famous superhero in town.

Luckily now they were surrounded at L-Corp exclusively by people Lena trusted. They didn't always share her opinion and regularly challenged her on the boards. But Lena didn't have to fear that she would be betrayed by them.

And to whom? There had been no real threats against her family in the past 15 years.

Suddenly they heard a knock on the front door that startled Kara and Liam. They looked at Lena.

With a roll of her eyes, she said: “Who is the one with laser view in this family? Me or you? Hush - what are you waiting for? Open the door. I'm sure your Sam or Alex needs to use the bathroom. After all, they've just spent twenty minutes in a car to pick us up. Let them in so we can go soon. I promised Lexi we would not be late, and I will keep that promise."

************

_At the University, same day, a couple of hours later_

Lexi's speech was just perfect. Lena's opinion wasn’t entirely objective. But the thunderous applause was a clear indicator that she wasn't alone in this.

Lisa couldn't resist a few jeering jokes, which in turn were all frenetically celebrated by Liam. At the same time, he was very proud of his biggest sister. Her speech had contained a lot of subtle humor, which he valued as much as Lisa's rather snarky comments.

Lizzy had tried not to be distracted. Though Sam tempted her by incessantly whispering in her ear. She only laughed once, briefly, then looked very sternly at Sam, who then shrugged his shoulder. He knew Lizzy secretly like him and his charm very much.

When Lexi thanked her mothers for always being fabulous role models for her, tears run down Kara's and Lena's cheeks.

Lena looked for a handkerchief in her handbag to dry them. As she did so, she noticed a neatly folded yellow piece of paper, sandwiched between her favorite red lipstick and a sunglasses case. She had never seen it before and couldn't remember ever putting it in her purse. Lena curiously opened it.

Written in Kara's handwriting it said: "I love you. Always."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That is the end - my friend - of this little story. When I started collecting first ideas I had only one goal: bringing a multi-chaptered fic across the finish line. 
> 
> I hadn't succeeded in doing that at my first attempt last year. I never thought that when you really come to the end, you will not only feel relief but also a special kind of melancholy. 
> 
> The only logical consequence of this was starting a new story- obviously. It will be placed in medieval times. I will only start publishing when the story has at least a beginning, a middle part, and an end. 
> 
> When I'm ready, I'll be happy if you want to accompany me on another trip.
> 
> Many thanks to everyone who has always motivated me with kind comments: especially Jesse2 and Doritos79 and KaraStark. Without you, it would have been only half as much fun!


End file.
